


Spirits of Nature

by shawol9196



Category: SHINee
Genre: Gen, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-02 21:48:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 24,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13327044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shawol9196/pseuds/shawol9196
Summary: Minho is a plant spirit who lives on an island with his animal spirit friend Jonghyun. Their friends Jinki, Kibum, and Taemin -- spirits of the sea, wind, and storms, respectively -- visit often.





	1. Character Introductions

Minho  
Plant spirit; can both turn into a plant and control actual plants. Likes to chill out as a Mangrove tree or pretty flowers. Has lived (alone) on the island for an undeterminedly long time. Likes that Jonghyun lives with him now and that Jinki/Kibum/Taemin visit often. 

Jinki  
Water spirit; can control the ocean and breathe underwater. Has a somewhat non-corporeal water form but mostly stays in person form (he got tired of being bumped into). Claims to live at the bottom of the ocean but spends most of his time around this island. Likes to go treasure hunting with Taemin. 

Taemin  
Storm spirit; can call up rain, lightning, and clouds as he pleases. He lives in a cloud cave with Kibum. Likes to visit Minho&Jonghyun's island to somewhat literally rain on their parade. Also likes to go treasure hunting and make unnecessarily large waves with Jinki. 

Kibum  
Wind spirit; can control the wind and rides it around. Lives in the clouds with Taemin. Likes to play on Minho&Jonghyun's island. Likes to send strong cold winds at the island at the exact moment tree!Minho has gotten all set up and comfortable, just to ruffle his leaves. 

Jonghyun  
Animal "guardian"/spirit; is supposed to protect other animals from stuff, but since he lives on the mostly uninhabited island with Minho, he just spends his time turning into animals as he pleases. Likes to be a puppy and play around with Minho, especially if it means bothering Kibum.


	2. The one where Kibum meets Taemin

It was bright when Kibum woke up. Exceedingly, blindingly bright. He put a hand over his eyes and used the other to feel around him. It didn’t seem to be a bed that he was laying on but it was soft enough that he let himself relax. He tried to think back to the day before, hoping that remembering where he was would help him decide where he was sleeping, but to his surprise he wasn’t able to remember anything. He remembered words and objects and even some of the schooling he must’ve had, but there was not a single place or event from his life that he could remember. The light began to lessen, so he put his hand down and eagerly looked around. His eyes immediately fell upon a woman sitting to his left.

“Ah, I see you’re awake,” she said with a smile. “I was wondering how long it would take.”

“Where....where am I? How long have I been here?” he asked, looking around. If there were walls and a ceiling, he couldn’t see them. There was some sort of big, white blanket on the ground, the thing he was laying on, that seemed to go on forever.

“You’re here and you’ve been here long enough. Do you remember anything, darling?”

Kibum sat up and shook his head. He hoped she would give him some answers but she only offered a sigh. She stood, offering him her hand. He took it and attempted to stand, but instantly sank onto his knees. The ground was a lot less firm than he’d thought and it took him a long while to be able to properly stand. The woman watched with seeming affection but said nothing. When he finally stood, she offered her hand once again.

“Now I need you to hold on tight, ok darling? We’re going to get off this cloud and I’m going to teach you to control the wind,” she explained.

Kibum’s eyes widened and he took a step back. Surely he couldn’t be on a cloud? Though his memory was poor, he distinctly remembered belonging on solid land. He took another step back and screamed when his foot fell through. The woman laughed and shook her head, walking towards him.

“Darling, you needn’t be afraid. You won’t get hurt if you fall and even if you do fall, the wind will just catch you.”

“The wind? Will catch me?”

The lady laughed again. “Come now, darling. There’s a lot to learn and a short time to learn it.”

She pulled him up and out of the cloud, leading him to the edge.

“Um, ma’am, not to ruin your plans, but I’m terrified of heights so maybe you should pick someone else for this job.”

She laughed, louder than before, and snapped her fingers. All of a sudden, Kibum found himself in the air. He screamed and tried to reach for her, but something -- he assumed it was the wind -- began to carry him away from her and down towards the sea below. He began pleading with it to stop, afraid that he’d be slammed into the water, and was surprised when he stopped moving.

“If you talk to the wind, it’ll listen to you, little one!” came the lady’s voice. Kibum was puzzled. He saw a rocky outcropping below him and the want to be on land became overwhelming.

“Uh, wind? Can we please go down to that rock? Really slowly? Please?” The wind obliged, moving him down at a leisurely pace. When he was on the ground, he immediately sank onto all fours. There was a bright flash, and the lady was standing next to him again.

“As time goes on, it’ll get easier and you won’t have to say anything out loud. You’re a part of the wind now and it’s a part of you. Good luck, little zephyr.” She began to walk away.

“Wait, please. I don’t understand! How did this happen? Is there anyone else out there? Why me?”

“I cannot tell you why or how, little one. It’s not the right time. I will return and tell you when you’re ready.”

“But is there anyone else? I just want someone to talk to, anyone, please.”

“If you ask the wind, it’ll take you to see the welkin. The two of you should play well together.” There was another bright flash and the lady departed before he could ask anymore questions. He stood and looked around at the ocean before him. The sun was at its highest and he knew he had to find somewhere to sleep before the sunset. Maybe the welkin would know.

“Hi, wind. It’s me again. Do you know who the welkin is? Or what it is?” he asked. To his surprise, the wind picked up and blew to the east of Kibum, pointing him to a strange looking cloud formation. Was she sending him to see a huge cloud?

“Well I’m glad you know the welkin. Can you take me to it?”

Once again, Kibum felt himself being lifted up, albeit more gently than before. As they travelled on, his fear of heights began to subside and he began to enjoy the sensation of flying though he was nowhere near comfortable with the sensation. As he got closer to the cloud formation, he noticed a small white cloud that seemed to be the origin of the storm. As he watched, the storm ended and the little cloud began heading towards his direction. He hoped he hadn’t disturbed it and that it’s path was just a coincidence. The wind picked up speed as the cloud did. He wondered if the cloud was pulling him in. He began to notice something on top of the cloud.

WHAP

It wasn’t ‘til the wind caught him that Kibum realized that he’d run straight into the cloud. He rubbed his forehead and sighed. Today had just not been his day.

“Are you the zephyr??” came a small but excited voice from on top of the cloud.

“I? I think so? My name is Kibum. Are you the welkin?”

A head popped over the side of the cloud. Kibum sighed in relief. The welkin wasn’t the cloud, but a boy like himself. The wind brought him up so they were eye to eye.

“Yeah, I’m the welkin. My name is, uh, Taemin. I think.” the boy paused for a moment. “Yeah, Taemin. She told me you were coming so I figured I’d try to find you in case you were having a hard time.” 

“Who did?”

“The lady. You saw her right?”

“Oh. Yeah. Her. She didn’t really explain anything to me so I’m a little lost. All she said is that I can control the wind, whatever that means.”

“You control wind? That’s so cool! That must be why she calls you zephyr.”

Kibum figured there was context to his comment, but was too drained to ask.

“Why does she call you welkin? Can you control the wind too?” he inquired.

Taemin laughed.

“No, I can control storms and clouds. Maybe we’re meant to work together, if she sent us together.”

Kibum contemplated the comment. It seemed likely enough, and was the only thing that had made sense so far. He noticed the sun beginning to set.

“So, Taemin, is there like a place we’re supposed to go to sleep?”

“I mean, there’s not like an official place or anything, but you can come stay at my cave if you want?”

Kibum nodded, and the two headed off away from the dissipating storm. To say that today had been the oddest day of Kibum’s life was (probably) an understatement, but at least he had ended it with a friend.


	3. The one where Jinki meets Minho

Jinki was worn out. He’d been travelling for 2 weeks straight, trying to find shortcuts between different pieces of land. In order to save energy he’d been in his water form the whole time, so he was more than ready to sit on some island and feel the sun on his skin. As he swam along, he came across an island he hadn’t encountered before. It seemed sturdy enough from under the water. Poking his head out of the water, it looked small enough to be uninhabited. There was a single mangrove tree on the beach, with tons of stringy roots going out into the water. Further up the beach was what seemed like a tiny jungle-like area. I bet I can use that tree to help myself out of the water he thought as he swam closer. Though he could easily switch between human and water form, it wasn’t always easy to get used to the pressure difference. As he got closer he started to change form, starting at his head. He had reached the tree by the time he got to the tree, so he reached out to grab a hold while he waited for his legs. Out of all the things he was expecting for this island, a screaming tree was not one of them. He let go in surprise, putting all his effort into finishing changing as quickly as possible.

“It’s not very nice to try and pull someone’s leg off you know!”

Jinki opened his eyes. The tree he’d been holding onto was gone and in its place sat a boy that looked about the same age as himself, eyes wide with fear.

“Oh I’m so sorry! You see, I thought I was grabbing a tree” Jinki replied..

The boy laughed. “You did grab a tree.”

Now Jinki was confused. He began looking around for the tree.

“I can turn into a tree. I was sitting out here to rest and thought it’d be nice to stretch out in the sun,” the boy explained as he moved nearer to Jinki. “Normally I have a still and quiet disposition as a tree but you yanked my root a little too hard.”

“You can turn into a tree??? How did you even figure that out? For that matter, how did you get to this island?”

“Yes, I can’t remember, and I don’t know. All I know is my name is Minho and I can grow and turn into plants.”

As if to prove to Jinki that this wasn’t some sort of hoax, Minho touched the ground between them; as he brought his hand up, a small water lily sprang up. He brought his hand closer to Jinki. His fingers stretched out into thin branches, little leaves growing at the ends. He sat still and laughed quietly when Jinki grabbed his hand to check if it was a magic trick. Jinki had spent many many years at sea and seen many things, but nothing quite as interesting as this.

“Wow, Minho. That’s really something.” he said after a while.

“So now that you know about me, who are you? How did you get to my island? I don’t see a boat or anything,” Minho asked, hands returning to normal.

“Oh, I’m Jinki. I’m a water spirit.”

Minho looked confused. Jinki stood, putting a hand out in front of him. As he brought it back towards himself, a wave started to form. It crashed on the beach a little larger than intended, soaking both boys. He looked down at Minho; the boy’s eyes were even bigger than before as he stared out at the water.

“Wow, Jinki. That’s so cool,” he whispered.

Jinki laughed, then turned around to look at the rest of the island behind them.

“So is it just you here?” he asked.

“Yeah. There was someone else a long time ago but they left and now it’s just me.” Minho replied, still staring at the sea. He stood up suddenly, turning to Jinki.

“Do you want to see my garden? No one’s seen it before!”

Jinki nodded and followed Minho towards the jungle behind them. As they got closer, he realized that the trees were all grown into each other. Branches crossed branches and trunks seemed to pass through each other to form what he assumed was a fence. Thick vines reinforced the joints while moss and what looked like wisteria blossoms filled the gaps and formed a privacy barrier. He’d heard of fairy rings from sailors he’d met and talked with and wondered if this is what they’d meant. Although he was a water spirit, he knew enough to be afraid of other spirits. After a while the reached a hole where it looked like a tree had died, leaving only the vines that used to hold it together. Minho pulled back the vines and gestured for Jinki to enter. It was dark for a few steps and then the light returned.

The garden itself seemed larger from the inside than Jinki had thought, but it may have just been how the place was literally bursting with life. Some of plants were familiar to Jinki: he’d seen them on shorelines of different waterways and in boxes on cargo ships and painted on porcelain. Others were completely new. They were all organized into plots, though by what criteria he couldn’t quite see. Along the perimeter were fruit trees that seemed to bear multiple types instead of just one, and in between them were little plots with what he assumed were vegetables. All the way across the garden was a hammock, seemingly made out of fabric but held up by more vines. In the middle of the garden was a huge stone slab that was vaguely reminiscent of a table with a few tree stump seats around it. It was covered in different cuttings, roots, and bulbs.

“So what do you think?”

Jinki turned around to look at Minho.

“It’s...so much,” he replied.

Minho looked confused and slightly disappointed.

“It’s a lot more than I thought I’d would be in here,” Jinki explained. “I’m just surprised is all. It’s really beautiful.”

Minho seemed pleased with the answer and began pointing things out.

“I grew an apple tree one night after I had a dream about eating one. I hadn’t seen one before that I can remember, but then all of a sudden I knew exactly what it was.”

Jinki reached out to grab an apple but instead found a pear in his hand. He looked up at Minho.

“You know this is a pear not an apple, right?” he asked, holding it out. Minho laughed.

“Yeah, I was getting to that part. After the apple tree I began remembering all sorts of fruits that grow on trees. The thing is I only have so much space for trees. Too many trees and I don’t have root room for flowers and stuff.” Minho bent down to check the trunk. “When I figured out lemons and limes, I remembered them together. So when I made the tree they were together. After I tried them I realized they were different fruits, but they grew ok together. So then I thought about saving space by just growing fruits together. A book came on the shore one day. It was all about fruits and vegetables: how they fit into families, what grows best together, how long they take to grow. So I studied it for a while and decided how to make my trees. So when a branch fell off one of the established tree, I’d change that part of the tree. I have 12 trees I’ve got it now where each one grows three different kinds of fruit.”

Now that he knew what to expect, Jinki went around to each tree to see what was growing. He’d seen a lot of bizarre things in his travels above and below water, but this garden was definitely in the top ten. Minho stayed put by the apple and pear tree, watching with anticipation. After going through all the trees, Jinki began wandering around the rest of the garden. Minho went to the stone table and began tending to some bulbs.

“How do you know so many plants, Minho?”

“Most of the edible stuff I know from that book. Otherwise, I dream about them and then all of a sudden I know the name and how to grow it. Like someone puts them in my head. If I have a description of it I can grow it.”

Jinki finished looking around and joined Minho at the table. He watched Minho inspect the bulbs and fiddle with them so that they began to sprout.

“So can you photosynthesize?” he asked.

“Can I what?”

“Well you can grow and turn into plants, right? And plants make energy by taking in sunlight and doing the photosynthesis thing. Can you do that too or do you like have to actually eat like people do?”

Minho paused for a moment, obviously processing the information.

“I don’t really have to eat in like ‘eat or die’ kind of way but I feel better if I do. If I’m a plant then I work like a plant and do the sunlight thing but I can’t do it as a person.”

Jinki nodded. He noticed it was getting dark and looked up at the sky. Through the tree canopy he realized that the sun was practically setting.

“Do you need to leave? I understand if you do,” Minho asked.

“Yeah, I probably should. I can’t remember the last time I spent this much time out of water, much less the last time I spent the night out of water.”

They both stood and headed back for the doorway. Minho drew the vines back again and they stepped out onto the beach. Jinki hadn’t realized how stressed he’d become being out of the view of the ocean.

“Is this the only time I’m going to see you?” Minho asked, sadness evident in his voice.

Jinki paused. He hadn’t thought about it. Both the boy and the garden were interesting enough though that he figured he’d be back at least once.

“I’ll come see you sometime. I don’t really have a schedule but I’ll definitely come back.”

Minho attempted to smile but it was clear he wasn’t convinced. Jinki took a step back towards him.

“What’s the matter?”

“You’re the first person that’s ever come to see me. My first friend. I just don’t want to be alone anymore.” he said shyly.

Jinki put his hand on Minho’s shoulder.

“I promise I’ll come back. Look for me next week, ok?”

Minho nodded. Jinki wanted to stay, figure out why Minho was out here alone on this island with seemingly no memory of anything, but it was getting too late and he knew he had to go. He walked down to the water before turning back and waving. Minho waved back with a sad smile as Jinki continued into the water. He let himself dissolve into his water form, watching Minho. He noticed how tired and lonely the other looked now that he was alone. He waited until Minho made his way back into the jungle before heading off. Maybe he’d visit tomorrow, just to make sure everything was okay.


	4. The one where Taemin meets Minho

The treasure hunt had gone well. Jinki’s waves and Taemin’s storms had riled the water up enough that a good amount of sparkly stuff had been brought up; Taemin had made three or four clouds for collecting stuff on and Jinki had filled all of them up. All that was left was the divvying of goods. Normally, Taemin took the gold stuff, Jinki took the colorful stuff, and they divided silver between them til it was equal. Today, though, Taemin noticed Jinki eyeing something in his pile.

“Is there something hidden in my pile?” he asked.

Jinki quickly looked away. “No, not exactly.”

“Is there something in my pile that you want? I know we decided years ago how to split our treasures but if you want to trade a few things once in awhile I don’t mind.”

Jinki looked at the pile again. “I was just thinking that flower brooch is really pretty.”  
Taemin rummaged around through his pile til he found that Jinki was referring to. He didn’t see anything special about it so he wasn’t hurt that Jinki had asked for it.

“You can have it if you want, Jinki. I have a bunch like this at the hideout.”

Jinki’s face lit up. “Really? Thanks, Tae. Is there anything of mine you want or would you rather more silver stuff?”

“I’ll just take more silver, if that’s ok.”

They continued sorting in relative silence. After this long they knew what objects the other liked so there wasn’t much debate on what pieces went to which man. When it was time to part, Jinki pulled the flower brooch out of his net bag and looked at it again with a smile on his face. It was the first time Taemin had seen such behavior out of him.

“Jinki, are you ok?”

“Yeah,” he replied, looking up. “Why, do I look sick or something?”

“No, I was just making sure.”

“Oh ok. I should get going. I’ll see you next time, ok? Have fun with Kibum!” Jinki said, turning to leave. Taemin watched Jinki turn into his water form, keeping an eye on the treasure bag as he disappeared. Curious as to why Jinki was so pleased with a mediocre flower thing, he decided to follow him for awhile.

Eventually, they reached what seemed like an uninhabited island. He watched Jinki turn back to his human form and yell, though he was too far away to hear what he was yelling at or for. He inched closer, keeping clouds close to him in an attempt to stay hidden. When Jinki didn’t move back towards the forest but kept talking, Taemin scanned the beach to look for another person but the only thing nearby was a patch of flowers. Jinki pulled the flower thing out of his bag and held it out towards the flower patch. Taemin turned round to make sure his treasures were all still behind him. When he looked back, the flower patch was gone and there was a boy standing with Jinki, holding the flower thing. In his surprise, Taemin fell out of his cloud and right into the water. He felt the water moving him and realized Jinki must’ve had a hold on him. When he washed up on the beach, his cheeks were burning red in embarrassment. He should’ve just gone home but no he just had to follow Jinki to this island with the weird plant boy thing. He laid on the beach when he heard the two walking towards him, trying to avoid the inevitable ‘why were you following me’ conversation.

“Hey Tae, you ok?” Jinki asked.

“Jinki? Oh yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just slipped was all.” Taemin replied, trying to sound surprised.

“Uhhuh. I’m not going to ask why you’re here, but since you are here you should say hi to my friend Minho.”

Taemin looked up at the boy behind Jinki. He looked friendly enough and seemed excited to meet another person. The flower thing was pinned to his shirt and around his head was a ring of similar but much more realistic looking flowers.

“Weren’t you a flower a minute ago?” Taemin asked, attempting to stand up.

The boy laughed and held out a hand to help him up.

“Nice to meet you too. Yeah, I was. I usually am. But it’s much easier to talk to Jinki when I’m in person form. I’m a plant spirit...person...thing.”

“Oh. I’m a storm spirit. I play with clouds and lightning and stuff.”

“I figured, though you might need to work on the cloud bit a little.”

“Minho lives here by himself and grows flowers, so I like to visit him. I found this place a while back when I was on that shortcut expedition,” Jinki explained. “I try to stop by every once in awhile to check on him.”

“Oh. So that’s why you wanted the flower thing?”

Minho and Jinki laughed together.

“Yeah. That’s why I wanted the flower thing.”

There was an awkward pause for a moment and Taemin decided that he should probably make his exit.

“Well it was nice meeting you, Minho. I’ll see you next time Jinki.” He waved and headed towards the water.

“Taemin, how are you going to get back on your cloud?” Minho asked.

He turned round to face them. He had forgotten that he wasn’t on his cloud; honestly it had been so long since he’d had Kibum to help him back onto it that he wasn’t quite sure how to do it on his own.

“If it’ll help you, I can put you on my shoulders and if I turn into a tree I should be able to give you some height if that’ll help?” Minho offered.

Taemin nodded and walked back onto the beach. With Jinki’s help, Taemin was on Minho’s shoulders quickly.

“Just try to hold on ok? It’s been a long time since I’ve done this. When you think we’re high enough just tap me twice ok?” And with that, Minho began to transform. Taemin tried to hold on as they suddenly jolted skywards. After a minute, he tried calling a cloud. When it came easily to him, he tapped Minho. When they stopped moving, he jumped onto the cloud and headed skywards. When Minho had safely returned to person form, he waved.

“Thanks! I’ll try to visit soon! I’ll bring you more flower treasures!” he called out. Now to just remember how to get on and off of clouds easily in the future.


	5. The one where Kibum meets Minho

Though they usually worked on the same storm cells and lived together, Taemin and Kibum usually didn’t “go to work” together. Kibum would take one side and Taemin the other, for maximum Storm Swirling. Today was not a usual day. Both were feeling a little lazy and decided that giving everyone a somewhat sunny day wouldn’t cause the apocalypse, so instead Kibum was helping Taemin move some clouds around to prep for the next day. After a while, Taemin perked up and got to work setting up a tiny raincloud.

“I thought we weren’t doing any storms today, Taebabe?”

Taemin looked up, then seemed to remember something and went back to work.

“I almost forgot to send rain to my friend so I’m making a cloud now. He’s on a island but he grows pretty flowers and he’s always nice to me so I try to make storms avoid him and send nice rain for his flowers everyday,” he explained.

Kibum stopped moving clouds to stare at Taemin.

“Taebabe, you have friends???”

Taemin glared as he finished the raincloud and sent it on its way.

“Wow way to ignore Jinki’s existence. Also if I don’t have friends what does that make you?”

“I’m your weather brother from another mother obviously????”

Taemin sighed and got back to work moving clouds.

“So when are you going to introduce me to your friends? As your mom I have to know all of your friends.”

“But I thought you just said you were my brother?”

Kibum sighed. “Taebabe, I am all of your relations since it’s just us out here. Anyway where is this island? You said there’s flowers right?”

Taemin laughed. “I’ll show you the island, but you have to promise me something.”

“Tell me and I’ll decide.”

“Well I’ve seen how you flit around and I just want you to know if you break this guy’s heart I will literally strike you with lightning repeatedly.”

Kibum stopped in surprise. It was true that he wasn’t always the most reliable person when it came to love; it wasn’t because he was unable to love or anything, he was just fond of flirting and people never quite seemed to understand him.

“Ok, I guess. I promise to be gentle with this guy. Does he live alone or something?”

Taemin stopped moving clouds and starting floating in a different direction, motioning for Kibum to follow him.

“Yeah actually he does. Jinki and I are the only people he knows apparently.”

“Wow. So is he just like a normal dude that accepts that you guys are like water weirdos or?”

Taemin laughed but didn’t reply. As they got closer to the island, Taemin went around to see if Minho was outside or in his garden. He had hoped that he would be a tree so that he could scare Kibum but the empty beach suggested Minho was inside. When he reached the bottom limit of his cloud, he hovered and waited for Kibum to catch up.

“He’s inside right now but if we sit right here and kind of move around we might be able to sneak a glance in so you can decide if you can play nice or not,” he explained.

Kibum looked offended for a moment, then shrugged. “Fair enough. So can you see him?”

Taemin searched around the garden for a sign of movement; it was possible that Minho was still a plant. After a minute he came into view.

“Is that him?” Kibum whispered.

“Yeah. He’s probably working on a flower right now.”  
“Where’s that raincloud you sent?”

As if it had been waiting to be remembered, Taemin’s raincloud came down low enough to block their view and started.

“Right there,” Taemin said, giggling.

Kibum huffed.

“Come on, we can go visit now. He won’t work if it’s raining.” Taemin explained before jumping off his cloud. While he knew how to get on and off his cloud in an easy and cool manner, jumping off and having Minho carry him back up was definitely the much more fun option. As he walked up onto the beach, he could see Kibum shaking his head. They made their way up to the tree ring and Tae gave the secret knock. Kibum was a little surprised when the vines moved out of the way on their own, but even more shocked when he saw the man inside.

“Taebabe,” he whispered “you didn’t mention how cute your friend is!”

Taemin turned to face Kibum before he entered. “Actually I did, you just weren’t listening for it. Remember that thing I made you promise me?”

“Taemin! You came to see me!” came the call from within. The two boys entered and made their way into the garden.

“Yeah, Minho. I had some extra time on my way home so I thought I’d make stop by and see how your flowers are doing. Is the rain ok?” Taemin replied, hugging Minho.

“Yeah it’s perfect!” Minho replied with a smile. He turned and properly noticed Kibum.

“Minho, this is my friend and weather brother Kibum. He controls the wind and likes flirting.” explained Taemin.

Kibum put his hand out for the usual ‘nice to meet you’ handshake but greeted instead with a hug. Now he understood Taemin’s warning. Fun.

“Hi Kibum. I’m sure Taemin already told you but I’m Minho and I’m the plant guy.” Minho said as he let go. Kibum looked around the room, pretending to be unaffected by the hug.

“Did you grow those yourself??” he asked, pointing at a table full of various blossoms. He walked over to it and began inspecting them without waiting for a response.

“Yeah, they’re all mine. I live here by myself so I’ve been trying to grow the most beautiful flower for a while now. They always turn out pretty, but I never feel satisfied with them.” Minho explained, picking one up.

“They’re gorgeous, Minho”

“Wow, Minho. You must’ve really wowed Kibum. He never says anything is gorgeous!” Taemin exclaimed.

Minho looked between them, a huge smile on his face.

“Really?? You really think so??”

Kibum nodded, still looking at the flowers. Minho beamed for a while, then sat down on a stump nearby. He became really serious and focused on his hands. Taemin tried to see what was going on, but Kibum interrupting him to say something about each flower. After a few minutes Minho let out a sigh and the smile returned to his face.

“Here, Kibum,” he said, holding out a circle of the same sort of flowers. Kibum looked at him, unsure of what he meant.

“It’s for you, since you seem to like them so much. I’ve made the others things when they visit and I’d feel rude if I didn’t give you anything.” he explained. When Kibum didn’t move Minho came around and placed it neatly on his head, arranging his hair gently so it sat right. He then stepped back towards Taemin so they could both admire his handiwork.

“Wow, Kibum it looks so good on you. Minho did a good job.”

Minho looked like he was about to speak as well when a cold wind blew through the garden. Taemin tried not to giggle at Kibum’s antics but Minho, who was naive of the situation, shivered and raced around to make sure everything was still in its place.

“What was that??” he asked, checking the table of flowers.

“Oh that was...my boss. I’m afraid Tae and I have to go. It was really nice meeting you though!” Kibum explained, trying to grab a hold of Taemin.

“See you, Minho!”

Minho looked sad at their parting but waved and said goodbye. Once they were back in the sky and out of earshot, Taemin finally let himself laugh and nearly fell out of his cloud. Kibum looked at him unamusedly, constantly checking to make sure his flower crown wasn’t being blown away.

“It’s not funny, Taemin!” he finally shouted.

“Oh yes it is! You should’ve seen your face! There wasn’t a flower in there that was redder than your face! I’ve never seen so many hearts in your eyes!”

“Did you have to make such a cute friend? I don’t have time for this you know!”

“Well, he certainly has time if you ever find some.”

“Do you think he noticed?”

“Probably not. He’s sweet and overexcited to see people at this point. Maybe if you visit more. He was the same way when I first met him.”

“What did he give you when you went?”

“He gave me plants that don’t need to be in soil to grow. Those plants I have at the hideout.”

“Oh.”


	6. The one where Kibum teaches Minho about holding hands

Kibum had visited Minho with Taemin enough times to be comfortable making the effort to go on his own. In the past when Taemin and Jinki had gone treasure hunting together, Kibum normally would’ve gone home or let the breeze carry him to whatever town was nearest him at that moment. Minho’s face was just too good to pass up so now he decided that he would spend that time visiting the island instead to “admire some of nature’s beauty” as he told Taemin. The only problem with visiting Minho was that Kibum had a tendency to misexplain things. He’d promised Taemin that he’d be gentle and kind to Minho since he didn’t really have experience (that he could remember) with people. So anytime he went a little too far -- calling him babe, giving him hugs, etc -- he would immediately explain that it was a thing that friends do. The only problem was that he would have to go home and explain to Taemin and Jinki what he’d said so that they’d go along with it. Just because all three of them knew that he was pretty infatuated with Minho didn’t mean he wanted to say it to the other quite yet. So as he left to visit the island, he promised himself he’d be more careful about himself or at least explain things properly. As he got closer, he looked out for Minho on the beach. There weren’t any trees out, but there were a few flowers on the beach. Why couldn’t Minho just put out a sign to let visitors know what form he was in? He landed on the beach with a sigh and walked over to the flowers.

“Hey is that you?” he asked, leaning in to the flowers.

No reply.

“Minbabe, if that’s you and you’re just not answering me I swear I’ll-”

“You’ll what?”

Kibum jumped at the voice. He turned around to see Minho, arms full of similar blossoms. Realizing his mistake, Kibum covered his face with his hands to try and hide his embarrassment.

“I didn’t really have anything in mind, actually. I was just making sure you weren’t messing with me” he explained, trying to appear cool. Minho laughed.

“So what brings you here today, Kibum?” he asked, kneeling down next to the flowers.

“Taemin is out with Jinki so I thought I’d come see you.”

Minho looked up with a suspicious glance then continued to plant the new flowers next to the already established ones. Kibum watched for a while, noting the tenderness with which he moved each flower.

“So what are the flowers for? Won’t they survive better in your garden?”

“They might,” Minho explained, wiping sand from his hands, “but I’m trying to practice growing hardier flowers and this is for me to see what way works best. Plus, if they’re out here then you can see them when you pass by but don’t have time to visit me.”

Kibum felt a blush rising in his cheeks again. Couldn’t Taemin have made a friend that wasn’t so cute and endearing? Minho finished arranging them and stood to admire his handiwork.

“They’re so pretty, Minbabe. They’re honestly gorgeous.”

“Really?”

Kibum looked at Minho, who was now blushing at the compliments and refused to make eye contact. As he looked at him, he noticed little flowers peeking out from his hair. After a moment, Minho had a full crown of miniature flowers like the ones he’d just planted. He finally turned to face Kibum.

“What about me? Am I pretty?” he asked shyly.

If Taemin was watching, Kibum hoped that he would send a lightning bolt right at this moment so that he wouldn’t have to answer. Kibum felt the words falling out of his mouth before he could pull himself together to give a cool response.

“You’re prettier than all your flowers put together, babe.”

Minho beamed at the compliment and even more flowers grew in to fill the gaps in his crown. Kibum could not believe himself; even when he’d been this infatuated with people before he had never been this lame. He turned to look at the flowers.

“Do you want to go inside?” Minho asked, cheeks still rosy and beaming. “I know you don’t like to be out in the direct sun for too long.”

Kibum nodded and reached for Minho’s hand. He laced their fingers together and waited for Minho to lead him inside. When Minho didn’t move, he looked up. Minho was frozen, staring at their hands. It occurred to him that he may never have held hands with someone before.

“Is this ok?” he asked.

“What is this?” Minho asked, seemingly puzzled by the phenomenon.

“We’re holding hands, Minho. Sometimes people do it with friends and family. It feels nice and helps you feel safe,” he explained.

“Oh, ok. I like it.”

And with that, Minho held tightened his grasp on Kibum’s hand but still didn’t move anywhere. Kibum let himself enjoy the moment until he remembered he’d have to explain to Taemin and Jinki that they should expect this in the future. He really needed to work on this.


	7. The one where Jonghyun meets everyone

Now that some time had passed and they’d learned what he liked and disliked, Taemin and Jinki started forming a third bounty pile of flowery treasures for Minho. It was mostly pieces of jewelry but sometimes there would be pieces of glass windows or shards of porcelain. What had formerly been a small endeavor for acquaintanceship and treasure and grown into a more friendly endeavor. They would plan their trips according to where Taemin had recently sent storms (to make it easier to pull up the goods), and simply took everything to Minho’s island to sort together instead of awkwardly on clouds at sea. Minho never watched them sort, not wanting to interrupt their quiet friendship, but would come and fawn over every piece they brought back once the sorting was done. When they parted, they’d make arrangements for the next time to meet. They were getting pretty good at this and Taemin was attempting to find something extra pretty to give to Kibum in apology for losing some of his treasures.

Normally they would go and find long sunken treasures that no regular humans would come looking for; but as they travelled out, they came across a rather recent shipwreck. Jinki swam up to the debris to check for survivors while Taemin held back. While he never intentionally sent storms in the path of normal people, it never made it any easier to see ships that had been so obviously wrecked by them. Jinki gave the all clear and they began stirring up the water to see what was inside. Since the wreck was so recent everything came up rather quickly. Seeing how hard the wreck was on Taemin, Jinki paused.

“Is it ok to stay here or would you rather go somewhere else?” he asked.

“No, it’s ok. You said there wasn’t anyone in there right?” Taemin replied after a moment.

“There was no one I could see. I saw a few other ships go by yesterday from around here, they were probably able to rescue everyone.”

Taemin nodded but didn’t say anything else. Jinki also went back to work, diving down to see if there was any good china on the inside. Minho had lately taken an interest in rose patterned teacups and seeing the happiness on his face was worth the extra dive. As expected there were a few good cups laying on the floor. He saw some strange bubbles coming up from the floor below and against his better judgement he went to go check it out. After searching through several rooms, he finally came across a door with bubbles coming out. To his surprise, he found the source of the bubbles was a small puppy, caught in some sort of air pocket in the corner of the room. The puppy noticed him and began trying to bark in Jinki’s direction. Being careful not to burst the bubble, Jinki slowly began maneuvering the bubble out of the room and towards the surface. The puppy continued barking but did its best to remain still, seeming to understand what was going on. Eventually, Jinki and the pup got to the surface. Taemin was waiting for him at the surface; it was obvious from the relieved expression on his face that Jinki had been down there a long time.

“Is that a puppy??” Tae asked when they reached the surface.

Jinki nodded and finished bringing the bubble up. As soon as it came into contact with the air the bubble burst; the puppy did its best to swim, but it was obvious he wasn’t used to being around water. Jinki carefully directed him up on a swell to Taemin, who excitedly brought him onto his cloud. The puppy cowered in his lap.

“He was in a bubble in the bottom level of the ship, but not a normal air pocket or anything. It was like he’d been purposefully put in there.” Jinki explained, reaching out to try and pet their new friend. Taemin’s face turned serious.

“Jinki, that’s not a good sign. We need to watch him, hide him somewhere. I don’t want anything to happen to this little guy.”

Jinki nodded. They sat for a minute, both quietly trying to brainstorm how to protect this puppy. Both liked it but neither lived in a place that was safe in any sense for a land animal.

“Oh! I know! We can take it to Minho! Then he’ll have a friend all the time!” Taemin shouted suddenly.

“Maybe then he won’t be so sulky when we leave. Good thinking.”

With the puppy’s fate decided, they headed off to the island. It wasn’t far, but it took them a while since Taemin wasn’t used to having passengers and the puppy wasn’t used to being on a cloud. When they got to the island, Minho was out near the water’s edge practicing his sea plants. His hand were out in the water and as they got closer Jinki could see the kelp stretching from his palms. The puppy was obviously excited to see land and as they approached Taemin had trouble keeping him on the cloud, eventually slipping out of his grasp. Once the puppy was off Taemin let himself drop into Jinki’s waiting wave. Minho looked up and let go of his kelp, interested in the treasure he knew was coming.

“Hi guys! How was your ship today?” he asked when they finally reached the beach.

“Good,” Jinki replied. “We found a lot of cool stuff. We even brought you a friend!”

Taemin held out the puppy, which had begun whimpering at being wet. Minho looked at it with wide eyes; it occurred to Jinki that Minho might not have seen a puppy before. When Minho reached out and began playing and petting it he remembered that at some time or another, Minho had lived somewhere else. From further up the beach came a scream.

“OH MY GOD IS THAT A PUPPY.”

Taemin and Jinki laughed at Kibum, who was now running down the beach.

“Yes, Bummie, it’s a puppy. Jinki and I found it on a ship today and since none of the three of us live in puppy-suitable places we’re giving it to Minho.” Taemin yelled back, finally putting the puppy down on the ground. It sniffed around for a moment and then plopped down, apparently anticipating Kibum’s incoming affections.

“The puppy is for me??” Minho asked in disbelief.

Jinki nodded. “Yeah, bud. I mean beyond the whole ‘who lives in a place where puppies can also live’ you also have the hardest time going to visit friends.”

“Hey Minbabe, you should grow him some grass to use so he doesn’t ruin all my flowers.”

Everyone turned to look at Kibum.

“Last time I checked they were Minho’s flowers, actually.” said Jinki.

“You all know what I mean. Minho, just go do your thing, my wonderful flower child.” Kibum huffed.

“What is grass like again? I almost remember it but not enough to grow it.”

After about ten minutes of explanation ranging from Jinki’s unhelpful “large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants” to Taemin’s equally unhelpful “that green stuff that grows on the ground and shakes in the wind” to Kibum’s short somewhat helpful sensory descriptions, Minho had enough of an idea to attempt it. He went further up the beach, past the normal threshold of waves, sat down and put his palms face down on the sand. After a moment he lifted his hands and a small patch of scraggly grass began growing. It wasn’t lushous or full by any means but it was enough to catch the attention of the puppy. It ran over (much to Kibum’s chagrin) and began to roll around. Minho laughed and reached out to pet it again. After a while it tuckered out, plopping down again to take a nap. Minho got up and walked back to the shore line, where Jinki and Taemin were beginning to offload the treasures they’d saved for Minho. He and Kibum walked them up to the tree ring. As they were walking back there was a loud pop coming from the direction of the puppy. All four turned and saw a very confused looking boy sitting where their beloved puppy had once been napping.

“Hello? Where am I? What happened to the boat?” he asked, obviously beginning to panic. Minho ran over and sat next to him.

“My name is Minho. You’re on my island. The boat you were on wrecked and my friends Jinki and Taemin saved you from it.” he explained, pointing at where the other two were.

“The boat wrecked?”

“Yeah, it was really wrecked. You were the only living thing left on the boat,” said Jinki.

The boy looked down at the ground; he looked shaken but not distraught.

“What’s your name?” Minho asked, trying to keep him talking.

“I-I’m Jonghyun.”

“That’s a pretty name,” Kibum continued. “Where are you from Jonghyun?”

“I’m fr- I’m from the mainland, I think. This was my first time sailing. I was going somewhere but they wouldn’t tell me where.”

Jinki sat down next to Minho and waited for Jonghyun to look at him.

“My name is Jinki. I was the one that found you on the ship. I’m going to ask you a question but you don’t have to answer if you don’t know, ok?” he said. Jonghyun nodded.

“Were you turned into a puppy by someone or is that something you can do by yourself?’

Jonghyun looked down again, brows furrowed in thought. No one said anything.

“I-I think I can do it myself? It’s not easy though. And I sometimes forget how t- how to turn back. Like into a person.”

“When I found you, you were in this ball of air. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Do you remember how you got in there?”

Jonghyun shook his head. “I don’t remember anything from the time we left shore til you came in for me.”

Silence fell over the five. Taemin made his way over to Kibum and began whispering in his ear. When he finished, Kibum turned to Jonghyun.

“Jonghyun, it’s getting dark. The three of us, “ he gestured at Jinki, Taemin, and himself, “can’t take you with us to where we live. Do you feel okay to stay here with Minho? We can take you to the mainland if you don’t, but it’s a long long way and it may not be anywhere close to where you’re from.”

Jonghyun looked around the island, then at Minho, then back at Kibum.

“I-I think I could stay here? If that’s ok? I don’t want to be trouble.”

Minho smiled. “You won’t be trouble, I’ve been hoping for a friend that can stay.”

He stood and stretched his hand out towards Jonghyun, who gingerly accepted it. Once everyone was standing, the three started out towards the water while Jonghyun and Minho stayed near the grass. They turned around and waved.

“We’ll come back tomorrow to check on you, ok? Minho’s the nicest person I’ve ever met so you’ll be ok for tonight. Goodbye!” yelled Kibum.

Jinki jumped in the water just so that he perfectly soaked Kibum and Taemin, then was gone. Taemin called a cloud over and Kibum called a wind, together maneuvering their way into the skies and out of sight. Minho and Jonghyun waited on the beach, hands still clasped (Kibum had just taught Minho about holding hands), til everyone was gone. They turned towards the tree ring.

“Do you like strawberries?” Minho asked.

“Yeah, strawberries are nice. Why?.”

“I just learned how to make them. I have some in my garden, do you want some? Jinki says they’re sweeter than normal ones but Taemin and Kibum like them so.”

“You can make strawberries??”


	8. The one where Jonghyun and Minho accidentally nap together

“So do you ever actually sleep in your hammock or is it all for show?” Jonghyun asked. He was arranging his sleeping spot. It was somewhere between a nest and a bed, consisting of a blanket and whatever soft pieces of feather and flower he came across. He had a proper nest in the tree near Minho’s hammock, a result of three days stuck as a canary, but preferred this spot. Minho looked up from where he was preparing flower bulbs at the centerstone. 

“I actually sleep there a lot. I don’t really sleep when I’m a plant. I mean, I don’t know what it’s like to turn into an animal but consciousness is really different as a plant. Like, I’m still aware of myself but I don’t sense things in the same way. But when I’m a person and need sleep that’s definitely the spot for it.”

“Where did you even get it in the first place?”

Minho stopped working. He stared off into the distance with a focused look on his face. Jonghyun usually knew better than to ask Minho about how things came to be but sometimes curiosity just got the better of him. Little forget-me-nots began sprouting where daisies had once been in Minho’s hair; obviously something was coming to him.

“The lady brought it for me. I can’t sleep on the ground anymore so she brought it so I could sleep safe,” Minho said suddenly, his voice barely above a whisper.

“The lady? Do you mean your mom?”

“No. I don’t remember having a mom.”

“But Minho, you just said your mom brought it.”

“No, I said the lady brought it.”

The two sat in silence. Jonghyun was puzzled by Minho’s explanation but it was obvious he was too far gone into some memory to offer anything better. After a while he tried a different approach.

“Why can’t you sleep on the ground, Minho? You’re fine in the ground as a plant.”

“That’s how I got here. I slept on the ground and then I was here.”

The far away look in Minho’s eyes began to worry Jonghyun. He’d seen the other get mentally far away before, once sitting motionless for over two hours when Taemin had asked where he’d gotten the blanket that Jonghyun was now using, but it was never this bad. He stood, looking for some way to get his mind back to the island.

“I’ve never been in a hammock. How do you even get into it?” he asked.

The small blossoms in Minho’s hair began falling away and he seemed to snap back to the present. He looked up at Jonghyun.

“You’ve never been in a hammock?”

Jonghyun shook his head. Minho stood and walked over to it, waving at Jonghyun to follow. He sat in it while Jonghyun was looking away and began swinging with a smug face. Jonghyun stared at the boy and the swing with an annoyed look. Minho stood and gestured for Jonghyun to try. Jonghyun walked up to it, tried sitting like it was a chair, and immediately found himself on the ground. Hammock 1, Jonghyun 0. He stood and tried again, opting for a bellyflop attempt. Again, he found himself on the ground. Hammock 2, Jonghyun 0. He tried again, trying to carefully lay himself into it. Hammock 3, Jonghyun 0. He glared at Minho who was unable to hold back his giggles. Again and again and again he tried. Minho joined him on the ground, his fits of laughter only fueling Jonghyun’s anger against the hammock. Somewhere around the 8th try, Minho finally came to his aid.  
“Jonghyun, stop,” he said in between gasps for air. “Please for the love of everything don’t try anything else. Give me a second and I’ll show you how to get in.”

Jonghyun stood and waited for Minho to collect himself. While he was angry at the hammock, he was also starting to hurt from falling on the ground. Damn Minho’s height and apparent need to sleep above ground. When Minho stood, he took Jonghyun’s hand.

“Ok, so first off, you never want to try any of the ways you just tried to get in. Congratulations on finding more ways to fall out that I knew were possible.”

Jonghyun pulled his hand away.

“Ok so then show me how to get in you tall jerk.”

“I was getting there, ok? If you wouldn’t look so funny falling out I would have already. I didn’t expect you to keep trying to get in.”

“Just show me how to get in your damn hammock, plant boy.”

Minho adjusted himself so he was standing with the hammock at his back, arms holding onto the top. He pulled Jonghyun beside him.

“So you want to stand like this and then hold on and then on the count of three we’re going to sit and let it swing forward.” he explained.

He let Jonghyun count. It took two attempts to get the timing right, but they made it into the hammock. They let it swing, Minho using his legs to keep it going.

“So you sleep sitting up like this?” Jonghyun asked when he finally got comfortable.

“No, I sleep like this.” Minho swung his legs up into the hammock and laying down, taking Jonghyun by surprise.

“Hey! That’s no fair! How do I get my legs up in here?!”

“With how short they are probably with less difficulty than me.”

The comment earned Minho a smack on the leg.

“Hold on to the sides and just swing your legs.”  
After a few halted attempts, Jonghyun got his legs in. There was a silence between them as they both enjoyed the gentle sway.

 

***

 

Kibum hadn’t been to the island in over a week. Normally, he had no issue going long periods of time without returning to places. Minho’s island was different. Mainly because Minho was there, but there was also some indescribable energy he picked up there. He kicked up a wind and decided to pay a visit. It was midday so it was more likely that both Minho and Jonghyun (who was prone to explore the air and sea near the island) would be home. Seeing the empty beach, he headed directly for the garden. He struggled momentarily with the guard vines but made his way inside. When he didn’t see anyone in there he called out.

“Hello?”

He was shushed by someone unseen. Then he noticed the hand waving from the hammock. He walked over and realized it was Jonghyun’s.

“Jonghyun? Where’s Minho I-”

“Shhhh!” Jonghyun cut him off. “You’ll wake him up.”

“I’ll what??”

Jonghyun waved him over. As he came closer, Kibum realized both of them were in the hammock. How Jonghyun had been able to wave was somewhat of a surprise with the way Minho was clinging to the smaller boy. Minho was still asleep with his head tucked under Jonghyun’s chin, small bits of lavender growing in his hair.

“I thought you two slept on opposite sides of the garden?” he whispered, pointing to where Jonghyun’s nesting pile was.

“We do.”

“Then why are you both in the hammock?”  
“I asked how Minho was able to sleep in it and he was showing me how to get into it.”

“And then?”  
“We just fell asleep.”

Kibum gave Jonghyun a suspecting look.

“I’m telling you, Kibum. This nap was not planned.”

“So why aren’t you asleep then?”

“I got my two hours, I’m good to go. Plant boy over here likes sleep a little more than me though so here I stay.”

Kibum laughed, then immediately covered his mouth. Minho shifted and began making noise.

“Is he awake?”

“No, he just sleep talks.”

They fell into silence, letting Minho fall back asleep.

“He seems nice to sleep next to.”

“He actually is. Well, as long as you’re fine with having absolutely zero personal space. But I can’t remember the last time I slept this well.”

Kibum sighed.

“Listen, Kibum. If you’re this jealous, you could always stop by a different day and complain that you didn’t sleep well. I mean, you’ve already taught him hand holding, hugging, and calling people affectionate terms. Might as well reinforce that napping together is nice.”

“I’m going now, Jonghyun. Enjoy your hammock lesson turned nap.”

Kibum walked out, not bothering to wait for a response. Maybe he’d come back tomorrow, ask Minho to teach him how to sleep in a hammock.


	9. The one where everyone remembers where they came from

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *****content warning: mentions/vague descriptions of de*th***** if you're uncomfortable with this theme, please skip this part! This part is only giving context to where they came from before they were nature spirts.

Jinki and Taemin normally didn’t go treasuring hunting at night; occasionally though, when the moon was bright enough they would go. Jinki had let Taemin lead today. They moved around until they came across a wreck. It had been taken down in a storm and lay in multiple pieces on the seafloor.

“Hey, Jinki, wasn’t this our ship?” Taemin asked quietly.

Jinki dipped below the water and began searching for the name of the ship on the hull. At the bottom of the seafloor, he finally found what he was looking for. Half covered in sad was a large section of siding with the name Jellicoe written in a showy font. Unwelcome memories flooded into his mind. At first they were pleasant. He and Taemin running around a deck; racing to climb the masts; the smell of pickled foods coming from the kitchen; the sun and the breeze and the joy of being alive. They were followed by the unpleasant ones. They were too far up to come down with the shaking of the ship; their mothers’ screaming for them to come below deck, that it wasn’t safe in this storm; a flash of lighting and Taemin screaming and the feeling of the mast falling into the sea; the surface getting farther and farther and farther away. The sound of a woman’s voice brought him back to the present.

“You’ve been here enough, darling. You remember, so why do you come back?”

Jinki tried to remember why he let Taemin lead him here. He should’ve known where they were headed. He looked around for her, but per usual she kept out of sight.

“I wanted to see you. I have a question for you.” he replied after a moment.

“I told you, darling, when you asked about the wind that you would have no questions. I know you care for the sproutling, but he is no longer yours to ask about.”

Jinki tried to think of a response but realized that she had left. He swam up to the surface yet paused before breaking through. She was talking to Taemin. He waited until she had seemingly gone to come up.

“Did she talk to you too?” Taemin asked.

Jinki nodded.

“What did she say to you?”

“Nothing really. You?”

“Well, she asked me how we were doing. And then I asked her about Minho and why he only half remembers things. With Jonghyun it makes sense that he doesn’t remember but Minho seems to have been there so long. Anyways she went quiet for a second and then she sort of went weird and left,” he trailed off and looked at the island. Out of the corner of his eye, JInki saw a bright flash of light. The lady was on the move.

“We should go, Taemin.”

Taemin nodded and the two headed towards the island. Halfway there, they ran into Kibum. He was stirring up winds but it was obvious something was bothering him.

“Is anything wrong, Ki?” Taemin asked, helping him with a particularly strong gust.

“Yeah. She just came by. Asked me how much I remember of my old life. There was something about Minho and timing,” he explained.

“I think I accidentally reminded her to tell Minho where he came from,” Taemin quietly admitted.

Both Jinki and Kibum looked at him.

“Jinki, love, was he always this way?”

“What way?”

 

“King of reminders. Was he the one that spurred her to tell me where I came from?”

“Actually, when we were kids he was worse and it was me that asked about you.”

Kibum huffed, vaguely annoyed with both of them. The bright light flashed again.

“Guys, regardless of our timing habits, we should probably get to the island. I don’t know about you but I specifically remember the experience of being told where I came from as unpleasant and awful.” Jinki whispered.

Taemin and Kibum nodded and wordlessly they all hurried, but not before the light disappeared. The waters around the island were unusually void of animal life. When they got onto the beach it was clear that they hadn’t gotten there before she had. The trees around the garden had lost their leaves and the vines around them were developing thorns. Kibum was able to move the vines around enough for them to go inside. The garden itself was different as well; all the vibrant colors had dulled, leaves and petals falling off stems, everything seemingly curling in upon itself.

“All this time I knew the plants were connected to him, but I never realized it was like this.” Kibum whispered.

They all looked around for a sign of the other two. From below a fruit tree came a tail. Taemin was closest and so he wandered over. There was a hiss. Jinki realized that it was Jonghyun. He’d never seen him as a cat before. Taemin crouched down and began whispering to him to try and calm him down. Jinki was about to walk over to them when he felt Kibum pulling at his arm. He looked towards a group of bushes that he didn’t remember. Kibum pointed into the heart of the thicket but it immediately grew and thickened and obstructed any view they may have had. A faint light was coming out of it.

“He’s in there, Jinki, “ Kibum whispered. “They’re both in there.”

He walked over and crouched down, seeing if there was a way inside. Kibum circled around it. The light began to fade, eventually going out. Jinki noticed a small opening and though he wasn’t sure he would fit he tried anyway. After struggling through the branches into the center he found Minho. He’d never seen him look so small and sullen. There were tears on his face. Jinki reached out to touch his cheek but stopped short when the bush began wrapping itself around his hand.

“I remember,” he whispered.

“I know you do.”

The branch slowly let go. Minho moved closer and reached out for Jinki. Understanding what he wanted, Jinki took Minho into his arms just before the younger burst into tears. The thicket around them dissolved, Kibum slowly coming into sight. He crouched down next to the two. Minho reached out a hand and Kibum took it, holding it between his own. Jinki felt Minho try to sit up and moved to let him do so. He wiped tears off his cheeks. Minho began to mumble something.

“What did you say, Minbabe?” Kibum asked, moving to rub his back in attempt to calm him down even more. Minho sucked in a breath as if to try again but shook his head and continued crying. Jinki looked towards the other side of the garden where Taemin had coaxed Jonghyun (who was still a cat) into his lap. It had been a very long time since he’d seen him putting so much effort into caring for another existence. There was a sound like a hiccup and Jonghyun turned back into a person. He wasn’t crying quite as hard as Minho but he was obviously shaken as well. Jinki felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned back to face Minho.

“Jinki, how did you get this way?” he asked. His voice was small and unsure. Jinki sighed.

“Taemin and I grew up together. That’s how we know each other. Our fathers were sailors. My dad was the captain and his was the first mate. We were having to relocate our families from one port to another. We’d be running around, trying to climb anything and everything we could. It was really the first time we’d been allowed to sail anywhere with them. We were about halfway there when a huge storm hit. We were trapped halfway up a mast when it came. Lightning hit while we were trying to get down. Taemin got hit and the mast broke in half. I was thrown in the water. When I woke up the next day, the lady came to me and explained that since that was where I was when she found me I’d be connected to it. She taught me how to change back and forth between water and person, how to control waves, everything. I was so relieved to find Taemin after that.”

“Taemin? What happened to you?” Jonghyun asked, tears and fears seemingly subsiding.

“Well, like Jinki said, I got hit by lightning. I can’t really describe the place where I woke up. But the lady was there too. Taught me clouds and lightning and storms and flying around. Eventually she told me how to find Jinki. And then I pretty literally ran into Kibum.”

Both Jonghyun and Minho looked at Kibum, waiting for his piece of the story. He in turn looked at Jinki, huffing before he began.

“I was from the interior, it was my first time at the coast. I’d been saving money for months to be able to come over. They had said that a big storm was coming and that everyone was supposed to evacuate. But I’d already spent so much of my money on getting to the coast that I refused to leave. I thought the storm had passed, but it was just the eye. I was outside when the backside of the storm hit. I got sucked up into the sky and woke up in the same place that Taemin did. Up in the clouds. She was waiting for me too. Taught me how to control and be the wind. Showed me where Taemin was, said that we would make a good team. Met Jinki a while later.”

When Kibum finished, there was a lull. Minho was obviously up next to tell his story, but no one wanted to ask. He seemed to take the cue and gathered himself together.

“I lived on the coast. There wasn’t really anything special about me or the town I was from. I was on the sand dunes one day with my friends. We were just out there playing when I slipped. All of a sudden I was underneath the dune. I could hear my friends calling out for me and trying to dig me out but I was too far down. Apparently, the dunes had formed on top of where a forest used to be. There was the remnants of a tree where I had fallen, it was what made the hole. When I woke up I was still below the sand. The lady helped me out and said this island was mine. She helped me make my garden and told me how to be and grow things.”

“So that’s why you can’t sleep on the ground?” Jonghyun asked. Minho nodded. Kibum perked up.

“I think I’ve been there. Where the treetops come out of the dunes? It’s a preserve now. There’s a memorial for you. Women who’ve lost children in sudden circumstances bring flowers there.” he explained. Minho looked equally touched and pained.

“It’s weird to think there’s a memorial for me somewhere else.”

“If it makes you feel any better, the statue is a terrible likeness of you.”

The two laughed.

Everyone turned to Jonghyun to see if he was ready.

“Jonghyun, if you’re not ready it’s ok,” Taemin whispered.

“No, no, I’m ok.”

While Jonghyun collected himself to tell his story, Jinki took a moment to look around the garden. Everything was starting to rebloom; he took it as a sign that Minho was getting better.

“I was from a poor family. I’d tried looking for a job but all I could find was being a small job collecting entrance tickets for the circus. I wasn’t allowed to go home during the season but since I wasn’t a proper member I wasn’t allowed to sleep in one of the tents. There was a cage of dogs that I liked to sleep in. I wanted a family and I had slowly gotten them to trust me. One night they brought in this wild cat. I don’t even know what it was called but it was huge. It looked so pained. I watched it over a few days, how they beat it to get it to perform how they wanted. I couldn’t stand it. So I set it free after everyone was asleep. I got caught in the cage though, and when the keeper came around in the morning it was pretty obvious that it was my fault. They chained me between railcars the next morning before setting out. Then all of a sudden I’m waking up to the lady and she’s showing me how to talk to animals and how to heal them and even turn into them. I found it was easiest to live as a puppy; a family had taken me in and we were going somewhere on the ship when there was a breech in the hull and we began to sink. That’s when you guys found me.”

Silence fell among them. The sun was beginning to peak over the top of the fence trees. Minho untangled himself from Jinki’s embrace and walked over to where Jonghyun and Taemin were sitting.

“Do you want to go back to sleep?” he asked, holding a hand out to Jonghyun. Jonghyun shook his head. Minho looked towards the hammock then suddenly at Kibum.

“Kibum do you want to take a nap with me?”

Kibum looked shocked at the request but was on his feet and nearly running to the hammock once he processed the question. Jinki and Taemin laughed, watching the two of them get in hammock. Jinki stood and motioned for Taemin and Jonghyun to follow.

“We’re going outside, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” he called out. Kibum shot Jinki a glare before Minho pulled him close.


	10. The one where Kibum goes to see Minho after a bad day

When Kibum first became the spirit of the wind, he was excited. Actually he was confused on what he could do with that power, but once he got the hang of it he was exhilarated with the idea. He could come and go as he please, move anything he wanted, and in some small way control other facets of nature. He’d gone around the world twice in one day, moved entire fleets of ships to their destination, and sent a full forest’s leaves to cover a mountain he wasn’t fond of. He felt magnificent and commanding. But every once in awhile the wind would come to remind it that while he was the one who tended to it, he did not completely control it. Today was one of those days. First he couldn’t call it to carry him, then he couldn’t even help Taemin move a cloud, then he had to inform the lady that he wouldn’t be able to send any of the wind storms that she had asked of him (which he wasn’t too upset about if he was being honest). No matter what he tried to do the wind fought back. Taemin had noticed the struggle (a miracle in any sense) and given Kibum a cloud to rest on.

“I’m all done for today. Are you done too?” he asked, sending his last storm off.

“I don’t know. I didn’t do any of my tasks today but the wind is just not cooperating with me for whatever reason.” Kibum huffed.

“Maybe the wind just doesn’t like your bad vibes, Ki. I know when I’m grumpy my clouds get weird.”

Kibum huffed again. “The only bad vibes I have are the ones I’m getting from the wind, ok?”

Taemin laughed as the wind suddenly picked up and spun Kibum’s cloud around.

“That’s the problem with powers like yours and Jinki’s. It’s always listening to your complaints!”

Kibum scowled as he tried to find a stable position on the cloud. Just as he got comfortable the wind came a second time; it completely knocked him off the cloud and Taemin had to rush to form another beneath him. Taemin came down to Kibum’s level and took his hand. There were tears in his eyes and Taemin was definitely not in a place to give emotional comfort.

“Come on, Ki. Let’s go. I’m using my privileges as your partner in sky and saying you’re done for the day. Shall we go see the boys?”

Kibum nodded. Taemin began towing Kibum along. He really didn’t want to deal with a crying Kibum so he hoped that Minho was there and alert. As they got close, he looked for Minho and Jonghyun on the beach, laughing when he caught sight of them. They’d recently stepped up their so-called napping game. On nice sunny days like today Minho would go out on the beach, go into tree form, and enjoy some photosynthesis time. Once Minho got comfortable, Jonghyun would turn into some small snake and wrap himself up around one of Minho’s branches to take a nap. Taemin had always wanted to scare them out of their nap to see who would change back first. He sent a little tiny cloud down, just big enough to carry one strike of lightning. Minho changed back immediately after the strike, Jonghyun wrapped around his ankle in fear. Jonghyun slithered off and changed back.

“That wasn’t very nice you know. What if you’d hurt them with that?” Kibum said as he smacked Taemin’s back.

“What can I say, my curiosity got the better of me.”

Taemin dropped off the cloud into the water, waiting for Kibum to follow. When he didn’t, Taemin dissolved it for him. When Kibum came up to the surface crying, he remembered two things: Kibum was a terrible swimmer (something he’d retained from his human years) and that they’d come here so that Kibum could be comforted. Taemin looked towards the shore to signal for help but Minho was already wading out. As Minho gathered Kibum up in his arms to carry him to the shore, Taemin suddenly felt a jolt of pain in his foot. He looked down to find a crab. He was about to throw it far away until a small voice said “Don’t even think about it, sky boy. You’re gonna carry me back to shore since you ruined my nap.”

Of course the crab was Jonghyun. He carried Jonghyun further down the beach so that they could keep an eye on how Kibum was doing but also have emotional distance.

By the time Minho set him down on the beach, Kibum was a crying mess. This wasn’t the first time Taemin had brought Kibum by after a long day. Minho sat down next to him and wrapped his arms around him. He hummed some half remembered song and pressed kisses to Kibum’s forehead. When his cries became softer, Minho loosened his hold and began rubbing circles into Kibum’s back.

“Long day, Bummie?”

“The wind is not cooperating with me. In fact, it’s harassing me.”

As if to make the point, a strong wind passed around them. Minho shook his hair back into place as Kibum started crying again. Minho went to put his arms around him again but decided against it. He took Kibum’s hands in his and leaned so that their foreheads were touching.

“It’ll be ok, Bummie. I know it’s hard but it’ll be ok and the wind will come back after a while.”

“I’ve just never had this happen this badly before. Like it’ll throw fits sometimes but it’s never been this long.”

“Well since the wind is being mean to you can I be nice and give you kisses and roses?”

Kibum almost smiled and nodded. Minho took Kibum’s hands and put them so they were palm down on the sand, covering them with one hand and holding Kibum’s chin with the other. He started pressing soft kisses to his forehead and cheeks, little rosebuds shooting up out of the sand between Kibum’s fingers with each one. He slowly made his way around Kibum’s face, making his way towards his lips. Just as Minho went to properly kiss him though, it started to downpour right between them. They both looked over to where Jonghyun and Taemin were now fighting.

“THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE OUT WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?” Taemin screamed as Jonghyun turned himself into a moth and began terrorizing him. Taemin started running at record speed, wildly waving his arms around. As he passed by Minho and Kibum, he seemingly hit Jonghyun who fell and turned back into a person. He looked at the two of them as Taemin -- seemingly unaware of his victory -- continued running.

“I tried to distract him so you guys could have your moment I’m sorry.” he said sheepishly. He attempted to sit up, rubbing his shin. Kibum reached out and took his hand.

“I appreciate it, bug boy.”

All three looked back over at Taemin as he screamed trying to get onto a cloud. Eventually he made it, turning to face the three of them.

“Kibum I’ll come back for you tomorrow, ok? Just wait til I’m out of sight to start like making out or whatever you people do!” he shouted before zooming off into the horizon.

Minho and Jonghyun stood while Kibum remained sitting in disbelief.

“That little jerk is really going to leave me here.”

Both Minho and Jonghyun feigned chest pain at the comment.

“And to think I thought you liked napping with me!” Minho said, pretending to cry. Kibum perked up then sank back.

“Where am I going to sleep though? You two are too used to sleeping next to each other there won’t be room for me.”

Jonghyun laughed as Minho helped Kibum stand.

“I don’t normally sleep in people form though. So while the three of us now might be difficult to fit on the hammock, the two of you and a tiny cuddly puppy won’t be.”

Kibum looked pleased with the thought. Without warning, Minho held Kibum’s face again, finally giving him the kiss he’d been promising.

“Taemin finally left.” he whispered.

“Ya! Where’s mine? I almost died so that this could be a free kissing zone!” Jonghyun exclaimed, smacking Minho’s side. Minho turned, grabbed Jonghyun’s chin, and kissed him as well. He put an arm around both their shoulders, Jonghyun on his left side and Kibum on his right.

“Come on, let’s go inside before the kissing police comes back because he realizes he doesn’t want to sleep at home by himself.”


	11. The one where Minho grows too much fruit

It had been an easy day on the island. Everyone had gathered together for a very important project. Not storm making or adventuring or any of the normal sort. It was more of a cleaning mission. Somehow, Minho had sent all of his fruit bearing plants into overdrive and now he and Jonghyun had more than they could possibly eat to deal with. So of course they invited Taemin, Jinki, and Kibum over for a picnic of sorts. Jonghyun and Minho had made reed baskets for everything, pulling it all out on the beach. It was quite a bounty, even for five people with seemingly endless appetites. The two had already started peeling tangerines by the time the others finally came around. They sat in a circle at first, each person picking one type of fruit: Jinki had apples; Jonghyun, strawberries; Kibum, persimmons; Taemin, bananas; and Minho kept the tangerines. Beside them lay more baskets which were less full, but had other fruits like peaches, lemons, and grapes. They’d peel and clean it off, then either eat it themselves or feed someone else. When the sun finally started to set, they decided that they’d had enough to eat. Minho, Kibum, and Jonghyun decided to nap while Taemin and Jinki started playing around with the remaining fruit down in the surf. Jinki would pull up a tiny bit of water and use it to dramatically slice up an apple while juggling tangerines. Taemin, on the other hand, was trying to figure out how to use lightning to cut fruit. After 10 attempts, all he had was fruit mash.

When they woke up, Jonghyun, Minho, and Kibum watched Taemin and Jinki for a while. Since Jinki seemed to have a pretty good hold on Taemin’s attention, they figured they had at least a little while to be more affectionate before the Mr. Kissing Police started sending miniature storm clouds and other annoyances their way. They had figured out a system to make sure that none of them got left out when it was affection time. Minho, who was both the top donor and top recipient of affection, would sit in the middle. When Jonghyun or Kibum wanted his attention, they’d simply tap his shoulder or cheek and he’d oblige. Minho prided himself on trying to be as fair and equal as he could be. Today, Minho was on the receiving end of both Jonghyun and Kibum’s affections. At first, it went smoothly. Tap, tap. A kiss from Kibum. Tap, tap. A kiss from Jonghyun. Back and forth. Then, equal time became obviously not enough time.

“You know, I should be able to get two kisses for each one you get,” Kibum started, poking at Jonghyun. “You live with him so you have 24/7 access while I only get a few hours a week.”

“If you want more kisses then come visit more. It’s not like there’s a chance he won’t be here,” Jonghyun sneered.

“If you’re always here that just proves my point that you get more kisses overall so I should get more now!”

“If you want time to get more kisses than other people then maybe you should just set time aside to visit just Minho! But since this is the three of us time, you get one for each I get!”

Between the two of them, Minho sighed. They’d argued about this before at great length. It always made him laugh that the two would waste more than half their affection time arguing about who should get kisses. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jinki gesturing that Taemin was losing interest in his games and that they were almost out of time. Tired of not getting the affection he wanted, Minho put an arm around each of them.

“I know you two like arguing about who deserves more kisses but I’m not quite feeling it today. I don’t know if you noticed, but I have two cheeks. Which is convenient since there’s two of you. Two cheeks, two of you, twice the kisses.” he explained, jokingly.

Jonghyun and Kibum looked at each other and laughed before shifting closer so they could each reach their respective cheek. Jinki was surprised at the sudden peace and dropped his tangerines. As he reached to pick them up, he heard Taemin mutter under his breath.

“What if neither of you kissed him and you guys just took another nap.”

Jinki started laughing and dropped his remaining tangerines. He tried to suppress it so the three could finish having their moment, but it was too much.

“Taemin, what did you say? Are you trying to re-kill Jinki or something?” Kibum called.

Jonghyun, who had heard the comment, yelled “I mean the third option is we keep kissing and you take a nap.”

Taemin’s face turned red, though it was obvious he was pleased that he’d made Jinki laugh so hard. The sun finally set and it grew dark on the beach. Begrudgingly, Jinki, Taemin, and Kibum got up to leave. Jinki set off first after quick hugs for everyone. Taemin also said goodbye quickly but lingered, waiting for Kibum.

“Taemin, you should probably go ahead but really slowly,” Jonghyun called as he headed towards the garden. “I’m going to go inside so Kibum can have the alone time with Minho that he’s obviously desperate for and I know how much you want to see that.”


	12. The one where Minho has a day to himself

It’s quiet when Minho wakes up. Sunbeams meander through the canopy of the top trees and by the time they reach him in the hammock, they’ve been softened enough to just bring warmth without blinding him. He moves to stretch, taking advantage of the fact that he’s the only one in the hammock to move as he pleases. Normally he’d move gently around as to not wake or scare Jonghyun. Today, though, the hammock was his and his alone. Jonghyun had gone on a trip. Taemin and Kibum were curious as to if Jonghyun could reach their cloud cave, so Taemin had volunteered to travel along with him (to make little cloud resting places for him as he needs) since there were no storms that he needed to make that day. Kibum and Jinki had left on a trip a few days earlier; something about testing ways to make bigger waves and water spouts. For the first time in a long time, Minho was alone for the day. Though he had spent many years alone -- at least fifty, by Kibum’s guess -- the feeling was odd to him now. Swinging his legs over the side so he was sitting up, Minho inspected his garden. It had been a while since he had given it the full attention he used to, especially with Jonghyun’s antics and the added pressure of growing fruit for four people beyond himself.

Standing, he looked around again before walking along the perimeter to the waterhole closer to his hammock. Before, he had to collect rainwater in a cistern but now he didn’t have to. Jonghyun and Jinki, in an effort to give something back to Minho beyond just friendship, had worked together to build two wells and a whole collection of tunnels under the sand. Jonghyun had dug all the holes and tunnels and Jinki had brought the water. Under guidance of the lady, he’d learned how to enchant the tunnels so that any seawater that came into them was immediately desalinated into freshwater. It was no small miracle and it had greatly improved all of Minho’s already wonderful flowers. He took a moment to look at his reflection in the water. He noticed flowers in his hair and grabbed one to examine. It was a little zinnia: he must be more lonely than he thought.

After tending to plants he already had planned to examine that day, Minho looked around for something new to do. He noticed that one of the plots near his hammock was unhealthy. All the leaves were wrinkled and rolling in, the flower petals withered and falling, the stems weak and breaking. He tried to remember what he had grown there before. As he began clearing the plants out, breaking them down with his hands so that they would compost and help improve the soil for whatever he planted in their stead. Although he couldn’t talk to plants like Jonghyun could to animals, per se, he could still understand their needs and -- as Kibum referred to them -- feelings. The feelings contained in these plants were unmistakable: sadness, loneliness, hopelessness. It suddenly struck him where these plants were from.

A few years after being brought to the island, the lady had come to visit Minho. She inquired about his health, happiness, and handiwork. When he said that everything was fine beyond the obvious pains of being lonely, she became furious. Who was he to ask for a friend when she had provided everything for him. He had grown only one plot of flowers in those years, after spending most of his initial time building the tree and vine perimeter around the safer (i.e. mostly out of tide’s reach) part of the island. It had taken a month to grow his first proper flower and the other twenty or so blooms had taken almost as long. Each day he had to coax them to grow properly. Now that they were blooming wonderfully and growing strong, his labor of love had turned into his pride and joy. In her anger, the lady scorched everything within the confines of the trees. When she departed, Minho was left with nothing but ashes. He sank to his knees and tried to feel for any remaining roots though he knew there wouldn’t be any. He had marked the space for each flower with little seashells and as he moved from ring to ring he couldn’t help but cry. He didn’t think that a friend, even just a little bird, was too much to ask for, much less something to be punished for. As he made to his way to the last ring, the tears came stronger until he couldn’t move. He sobbed and wailed until his body couldn’t give anymore and he fell asleep. When he woke up in the morning, he was surrounded by a sea of red and black and white and blue flowers: anemone, syringa, bramble, asphodel, hemlock, belladonna, mourning bride, and more flowers had sprung up during the night. A garden of mourning had sprung up from the ashes of his garden of love and pride, watered -- literally -- by his tears.

He shook his head to dispel the memory. It struck him that since the flowers had been pulled directly from his own emotion, it made sense that they were dying away since he no longer felt such loneliness. Intrigued at the concept, he wondered if he could purposely grow flowers based on feelings rather than thinking about the flowers themselves. If he could make a garden from tears and his mood generate miniature flowers in his hair, then surely he could grow flowers based on feelings? Using one of the drier stalks, he divided the plot into four mostly equal parts. He made internal borders wide as his hand. As he retraced the lines with his hand, clover and cress started poking up through the sand. He moved to the plot closest to one of the watering holes. After deciding it would be Jinki’s plot, he tried thinking of feelings associated with memories of Jinki. He closed his eyes and thought about how happy he was to finally make a friend; how Jinki had come to be a source of strength and consistency in his life; how he admired Jinki. He put his hands to the ground and let his feelings dictate the flowers. When it was done, he opened his eyes. The formally barren square was now filled with yellow and white and purples and blues: hyacinths, fennel, snowdrop, agrimony, sunflowers, and verbena blossoming together. Excited, he moved on. He put Jonghyun’s on the other side, closer to the hammock. He thought about the loyalty and comfort and devotion between himself and the newest member of their friend group; how quickly friendship and affection had developed. He put his hands to the ground again but didn’t close his eyes. Instead he watched as the plot went from sand to white and yellow and pink and purples: alstroemeria, chamomile, geranium, heliotrope, milkvetch, and statice sinuata all growing so intertwined it was hard to tell which plant started where. Taemin’s was below Jinki’s plot, on the waterhole side. Taemin’s was the hardest to understand his feelings for. Though they met rather quickly because of Jinki, their friendship had progressed the most slowly. There was definite fondness and friendship between two, but there was also feelings of uncertainty and a desire to be more close. Minho rested his hands on the ground while he tried to better describe the feelings to himself and was surprised when flowers started growing anyways. Again the plot was all yellows and purples and whites: daisy, daphne odora, goldenrod, daffodils, lilac, and periwinkle springing up slowly but surely. Kibum’s plot was both the last and the easiest. He closed his eyes, put his hands on the ground, and thought about Kibum, his mind immediately filling with fondness and affection. When he opened his eyes, the reds, and pinks of the plot immediately stood out from the other three; sweet pea, morning glory, honeysuckle, and a variety of tulips, roses, and peonies bloomed thickly, to the point that leaves and stems were almost completely hidden. Standing, Minho admired his work. His mourning garden had been restored to a garden of love. He was pleased with it. Little raindrops began to make their way down to the flowers. Taemin had mentioned sending rain when they were on their way back. Judging by how long they’d been gone, Minho guessed they’d be back by morning. Satisfied, he moved on to the next project: figuring out how to grow those pink blueberries that Kibum brought from his last trip to the mainland.


	13. The one where Kibum spends the night for the first time.

When Kibum finally finishes his work, it’s late. The sun is well past its highest point, though not quite setting just yet. He knows he shouldn’t go to the island, that it’s too late in the day, but he goes anyway. Taemin reminds him to be quick; neither of them have slept outside the cloud caves since they had come to be as they were and they both worried what would happen if they tried sleeping elsewhere.

Minho’s on the beach when Kibum arrives. He’s sitting in the sand, trying to coax something to grow but immediately stops as soon as he sees him.

“Kibum!”

“Hi. Long time no see, huh?”

“Nope but I’m glad you came today.”

“Where’s our puppy?”

“Jjongie is out on some weird speed migration thing with Jinki. He left a day or two after he got back from staying at your place.”

That means it’s been a least a week and a half that Minho’s been alone. It’s clear by the expression on his face that Minho is more than thrilled that Kibum’s come. It’s been almost 3 weeks since he had the chance to stop by and though he can’t put his finger on what it is, something’s different. Giving up on his project, Minho stands and takes Kibum’s hand, leading him into the garden. He shows him all the plants he’s been working on, how his citrus trees are in bloom, the new wells Taemin and Jinki built him. Every time they finish looking at something, Kibum thinks that he needs to go. But just as the thoughts creep up, he feels Minho’s hand tighten around his and so he stays just a little longer. Minho saves his new plot, the one he made on his day alone, for last. Even though he knows Minho’s plants are almost always beautiful, the sight of the new plot -- his section in particular -- takes Kibum's breath away. He notices how much redder his flowers are in comparison to the other three and feels his cheeks becoming the same color. Minho presses a kiss to his cheek. Feeling oddly shy, he looks away and notices that the sun is almost finished setting. He’s been here too long and now it’s too late to leave. He pulls a wind and asks it to let Taemin know he’s staying at the island and that he’ll report back in the morning.

“Is everything okay?” Minho asks, slipping an arm around Kibum’s waist.

“Yeah, it’s just too late for me to go home now so I was letting Taemin know.”

“Does that mean you’re going to stay?”

Kibum wonders if this was Minho’s plan all along, to make him stay the night. Though he claimed to only be able to control plants, there had been more than a few occasions where the others had wondered if there was more to his powers than just that.

“I don’t really have a choice in the matter, but yes, I’m going to stay.”

Minho beams. As the sun finishes setting and the sky gets dark, an odd blue glow begins to come from the wells. Minho explains it before Kibum can ask.

“It’s algae. Jinki found them and put them all in the walls of the well. The darkness is fine for me, since plants need it to help regulate themselves, but Jonghyun doesn’t always like it. He gets stuck in nocturnal ruts pretty often but for whatever reason his eyesight doesn’t adapt as well as it should. It’s enough that he can see but not enough to keep me awake.”

As it becomes fully dark and his eyes adjust, Kibum finds that he rather likes the soft glow. As he looks around the garden, he sees all the plants also adjusting to the lower light: blossoms closing up tightly, leaves rolling in on themselves. He feels Minho’s hand tighten around his before he’s lead, ever so slowly, to the hammock. Minho lets Kibum get in first: it’s much easier for him than it is for Jonghyun, since he has the wind hold the hammock in place. He lays on his side so that Minho can lay next to him but is surprised when he feels the hammock tilt enough that he slides onto his back. Minho gets in, laying on his stomach halfway on top of Kibum. Kibum’s surprised at how forward Minho's being but definitely not complaining. He reaches to give Minho a goodnight kiss and is surprised again when Minho gently cups his face in his hands, wasting no time to start giving him more than a few goodnight kisses. Normally, during the sunlight hours, their kisses are quick and bright pecks, short and sweet like little pieces of candy; it’s the reason why he and Jonghyun ask Minho for so many. Tonight though is different; Minho’s kisses are slow and languid and in a way, greedy; it’s almost like he forgets how to stop every time and once he remembers, he doesn’t want to. Kibum shifts around so that he can wrap his arms around Minho’s waist, holding him tighter. When Minho presses their foreheads together to take a breather, Kibum takes in the situation. Though he watched them close, the flowers’ scent is still thick in the air. The glow of the algae is just bright enough to light up one side of Minho’s face; his features are oddly softened in it and Kibum doesn’t think he could be anymore in love than he is at this moment. Though Minho’s always been very physically affectionate with all of them, Kibum can’t think of single instance that he’s seen or heard of Minho being like this, though he’s never really talked to Jonghyun about what happens when the sun goes down.

“Is this what our puppy gets every night when I leave?” he whispers.

“No,  he doesn’t,” Minho replies with a breathy laugh, stroking Kibum's cheeks with his thumbs. “Jjongie almost always stays as an animal after dark and even if he stays in human form he doesn’t like kisses after dark.”

Kibum hums in response and cranes his neck in attempt to get more kisses. Minho obliges almost immediately and Kibum is blissful once again. He thinks back to 2 months prior, when Jonghyun had an episode that could only be described as reminiscent of an animal in heat. When he was in human form, he could go no more than five minutes without some sort of physical contact (whether it be holding hands or otherwise) before he would start weeping; in his animal form, it was even less time, though he’d simply start crawling on whoever was closest and whining for affection. To pacify him, Minho had allowed Jonghyun to turn into a little snake and wrap around whatever limb he preferred at the moment for the remainder of the episode. Kibum knew admittedly little about plants and though he doubted that they had heats in the same way animals do, he wondered if it was a similar situation that Minho was going through right now. There’s a full moon out and one of the five always seems to have some sort of episode during it, though so far never more than one of them at a time. Minho pulls away, and Kibum thinks he’s taking another breather, but he moves to start kissing his cheek instead.

“I just missed you,” Minho whispers in between kisses. Kibum’s breath catches in his throat and his heart flutters when Minho repeats it again and again. Though he knows that he’s saying ‘I missed you,’ to Kibum’s it sounds more like ‘I love you.’

“I missed you too,” he says when Minho finally takes another breather. Minho smiles and continues on his way, meandering between Kibum’s lips and cheeks and jaw, going as far as his shoulders. Neither of them say anymore, choosing to simply enjoy the moment. Over time, the already slow kisses get longer and Kibum realizes that Minho’s starting to fall asleep. When it’s too much, Minho gives Kibum one more goodnight kiss before scooting down so that he can tuck his head into the crook of Kibum’s neck. Kibum leans to kiss his the top of his head and is surprised when he somehow ends up with a mouth full of lavender. He calls a wind to gently swing the hammock, making sure that Minho falls asleep before trying to sleep himself. Every once in a while, the wind comes in ever so slightly colder; it’s not enough to wake him up, but enough that Minho cuddles closer into Kibum’s hold. Within minutes, Kibum’s asleep as well, too blissed out to worry about what will happen overnight.

*

When Kibum wakes up, there’s light coming in through the canopy of trees. He looks down and sees Minho still sleeping soundly. He shifts and feels like he’s caught in something. Looking at his limbs, he notices he’s covered in little thread-like tendrils of some sort of plant seemingly stemming from Minho. Obviously he isn't going to leave easily any time soon. He feels a pair of eyes watching him and looks up to see the lady standing next to the hammock. He tries to sit up to properly greet her, but she motions for him to stay still.

“Am I allowed to sleep here?” he asks timidly, worried he's in trouble. He’s relieved when she laughs.

“You can sleep anywhere you like, Zephyr. The others are a little more limited in their sleeping place of choice, but you in particular can sleep as you like where you like. It’s always been that way.”

He sighs in relief. Minho begins shifting around, and Kibum worries that he’s woken him, but he merely sighs and goes still again. Kibum watches as the woman walks over to the new plot and inspects it.

“He’s blooming this moon,” she states.

“Blooming?”

“Yes, blooming. This moon, his power is going to be at its strongest and most volatile and at the same time, he’s going to be at his neediest and most vulnerable. He goes through a blooming period every year, but it’s going to be incredibly strong this year since it’s happening at the end of summer. He’s going to need all four of you to help him cope with it. You have no orders until I come again.”

“Oh.” Kibum looks at Minho and kisses his forehead, fishing out the bits of lavender the inevitably form in his mouth. From where she stands, the lady laughs; it sounds almost fond.

“He called for you yesterday, didn’t he?”

“What?”

“When you woke up in the morning yesterday you had no intention of coming over to this island, and yet you found yourself drawn to the island anyway, correct?”

Kibum nods, trying to figure out where she’s going with this.

“Out of the five of you, Minho alone has the power to pull life from where there is none. Though he’s limited to plants, he’s connected to all living matter. He doesn’t know how much power he holds and that’s why he was chosen to carry it. Though you have gone past the realm of the living, he’s still connected to the life you once held. The more time you spend on this island, the stronger his pull on you. That’s why yesterday, when he was alone and needed someone, he was able to tug your heart in his direction.”

Kibum sits silently. He hears what she’s telling him and part of him completely understand what she’s saying, but in another way he can’t comprehend what she means. She finally looks up at him and laughs again.

“You don’t have to understand now. When it comes time, you will know. Just remember. No matter what seems like is happening, it will pass. None of you are in danger. Except perhaps him.” she pauses, looks at the plot of flowers once more. “I’m going to call on the others. Stay close. Do not leave him alone.”

With a flash of light, she’s gone. Out of the five of them, Kibum sees her the most, yet he still can’t fathom what or who she is; all there is to do is follow her orders. As he ponders what her instructions mean, he feels Minho wiggling around, huffing and sighing, signalling that he’s finally waking up. The tendrils slowly pull back and disappear by the time Minho opens his eyes. Kibum grabs his hand and starts kissing his knuckles as he waits for him to fully wake up and is pleased to find that he stops tasting lavender. Eventually Minho pulls his hand away so that he can rest it on Kibum’s cheek.

“How’d you sleep, morning glory?” Kibum asks. Minho doesn’t respond, though he smiles at the epithet. He pulls at Kibum’s face and cranes his neck, obviously trying for kisses, but is too far down to reach higher than his chin. He starts anyways, though there’s a distinctly disappointed feeling in the air. Kibum laughs and does his best to pull Minho up so that they’re properly face to face. Minho nuzzles his nose against Kibum’s.

“Are you blooming, my morning glory?”

Minho simply hums in response before resuming his steady stream of kisses from the night before. Though Kibum’s worried about what this is going to hold and why the warnings given to him were needed, he hoped the lady waited as long as possible to send the others.


	14. Minho's Bloom (Day 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There will be multiple "days" in this part, so keep a look out for the rest. They should hopefully be posted pretty close together~

Minho’s still bestowing kisses on Kibum when the others arrive. He’s switched sides from the night before, head buried in Kibum’s neck, pressing kisses next to his adam’s apple. Kibum’s disappointed that their time is coming to an end, but he’s glad that the others are coming in so they can prepare for whatever lies ahead. Although he hears Jinki calling out for them from the door, he’s too breathless to answer, opting to wave at them instead. He hears Taemin groan and laughs. It makes Minho pause and look up. There’s a hazy look to his face, a smile creeping over as he sees the others make their way inside. He kisses Kibum twice more before getting out of the hammock. He reaches Jonghyun first, giving him the same two kiss treatment. Next is Jinki, followed by Taemin, who are each given a kiss on each cheek. The four of them look at each other, obviously equally confused, as Minho makes his way to one of the wells. 

“How are you this morning, sprout?” Jinki ventures, walking up behind him. 

“I know she sent you guys, give me a minute and I’ll answer as much of your questions as I can.” 

He washes his face in the water, then goes and grabs an armful of oranges off the tree behind it. When he walks towards the stone tablet in the middle of the garden, the others follow. There’s only four stumps around it, so Jonghyun ends up sitting on Minho’s lap. Kibum feels a pang of jealousy as he watches Minho start kissing at his shoulder, but one look from Minho dissipates the feeling. They start peeling oranges as Minho starts to explain the situation. 

“So, it’s obviously no secret we’re all influenced by the moon. I know you guys have like weird power surges and other things go on. But mine is a little different. Once a year, at one particular moon cycle, I go into what the lady and I call blooming period. It’s usually 4 days or so, but it can be longer or shorter depending on what time of year it falls in.”

“What do you guys mean ‘blooming period’? Aren’t you always in bloom?” Taemin asks, mouth full of fruit. 

Minho laughs and buries his head into Jonghyun’s neck for a moment. 

“Yes, but no. I can make anything bloom at any point in the year but I in particular only bloom once a year. Normally, the plants and I are in somewhat of a neutral energy cycle. The energy I take from them goes back into them. But during blooming, my energy greatly exceeds that of the plants. Everything becomes volatile and over-bloomed, in really weird ways.”

“So what does that mean for us?” Jinki asks. 

“I don’t know. I’ve never had anyone around during one and I’ve never had one so near the solstice so I don’t know how hard it’s going to be.”

“Well, can you walk us through it? How it is for you? Maybe that’ll give us an idea.” Kibum suggests.

“Today is the first day. First days are normally fine, besides the feeling of knowing I’m going into it. Then there’s burning. And the burning goes on for a few days. Then there’s a sort of lull, that I can never really remember well. And then there’s rebuilding.”

“What do you mean burning?” Jonghyun asks, shifting around to face Minho. Minho’s face contorts with pain at the thought.

“I can’t really describe it, I’m sorry.”

“What about rebuilding?” Jinki tries.

“Something always happens and I have to fix the garden, but again, I don’t really know what it is.”

A silence falls between them all as they try to make sense of Minho’s words.  Minho’s face is buried in Jonghyun’s neck again; Jonghyun’s doing his best to stay quiet but a tiny whimper escapes him every now and again. Kibum feels jealous rising again until he sees Minho’s hand reaching for him. He takes it and he begins feeling the warmth and bliss from earlier; it’s an odd sensation, almost as if he’s enjoying the kisses Jonghyun’s now getting.He looks across the table and sees Jinki and Taemin watching the whole thing with equal amounts of confusion, intrigue, and disgust. Suddenly, Minho stops: he lets go of Kibum’s hand and moves Jonghyun enough that he can stand. He looks up towards the sky for a long time, at something the others can’t see, then goes and makes his way to the hammock. Even though it’s high noon, he gets in and is asleep before the others can ask what he’s doing. There’s a flash of light and the lady stands before them on the table.

“I see you’ve all made it. This sleep is the beginning of the blooming. He’ll sleep til tomorrow, so you’ll have a little bit of reprieve before things get...serious. Each of you will feel a call, and it’s imperative that you follow that call whether or not you understand what it means.”

“Is that all you can give us? If this is so important and dangerous, can’t you give us anything that will help?” Jonghyun asks. The others are vaguely shocked at his boldness; he was often the most timid around the lady. She seems to smile, then look to each person for a few moments, silently relaying information to each. 

“There. You have your hint. Are you pleased?” she asks when she’s done. The four nod. She’s gone again before they can think of any other questions to ask. They sit in silence for a while, the only sounds coming from Minho moving in the hammock. 

“So what did she tell you guys?” Taemin asks. 

“I don’t know that we’re supposed to share,” Jinki says quietly. 

“She said I’m...involved the second day -- so tomorrow -- and the fifth day.” Jonghyun offers.

“Me too,” Kibum says.

“I’m the fourth day,” Taemin says

“I’m the third day, which makes sense.” Jinki says. 

Silence falls again. Kibum’s not sure what to think of the fact that he and Jonghyun are paired together, but he’s grateful that he won’t have to be alone in his tasks. 

“We should prepare,” Jinki instructs, standing. “Jonghyun, Kibum, gather all the foodstuff that looks in any way ready. Put half of it on the table and bring half of it outside. When you’re done, Jonghyun, I want you to put out a call to all the wildlife that usually comes by and tell them not to dare; they’ll probably know already but just in case.. Taemin, give us some cloud cover. Not enough that the plants suffer, but enough that no ships think to come near. I’m going to put a ring around the island so anything that tries to ignore all the warnings get stuck.” 

The other three nod and get busy with their assigned task. Kibum starts collecting fruit while Jonghyun turns into a puppy to dig up vegetables. Every once in a while, one of them go to check on Minho. The light in the garden starts to fade ever so slightly as Taemin pulls his clouds together. When he’s done, he comes in to the garden to help Jonghyun carry half the bounty outside.The three from the beach come back in after a while and the four of them sit down to eat again. The sun’s already setting so they start talking about sleeping arrangements: Kibum will join Minho again in the hammock, Jinki will sleep in the well, and Taemin will sleep in the same tree as Jonghyun’s nest. As they all make their way to their spots, they worry about the next day and the meaning of their tasks. 


	15. Minho's Bloom (Day 2)

When the second day starts, the four of them are sitting outside the garden on the beach. They’re in front of the door so they can peak in if anything happens, but they’re worried enough by what might happen that they keep their distance. They’re in the middle of discussing their own moon cycles. Jinki starts the conversation, discussing his own moontime record of a wave 2000 ft in height and how he created an enormous artificial sea in the innermost part of the mainland. Taemin keeps it going with descriptions of his best hurricanes yet and some very special displays of ball lighting. Kibum talks about how he harvested an entire wheat field in a matter of five minutes and splitting a mountain in two. Jonghyun’s the last to go. He talks about his most recent moontime, when he apparently had control over every fish within 100 miles of the island and how he once made an entire flock of birds fall out of the sky because he sneezed. The common factor of their stories -- major destruction in one way or another -- hits them all simultaneously. There’s discussion of how bad they think it’s going to be or how its going to play out, but with Minho’s inability to remember and the lady’s decision not to share information, they have no idea what to expect. Jonghyun and Kibum know they’re up today, with whatever their ‘call’ is. Taemin and Jinki have agreed to stay on the beach unless they call for them.

*

When Minho wakes up, he’s already started burning. It’s a prickly white heat, inexplicable and inescapable. He can hear the others laughing, right outside the garden. He doesn’t have the strength to get out of the hammock and wishes that someone would come in.  Kibum is the first to come into the garden. He makes his way over to the hammock and sits down next to it. He reaches up to brush Minho’s bangs out of his eyes and kisses his forehead.

“Hi there, morning glory. You’ve been asleep so long I was starting to get worried.”

Minho smiles and Kibum returns it.

“You’re so warm, are do you feel okay?” he asks, holding the back of his hand to Minho’s forehead. Minho does his best to shake his head. Kibum’s hand moves down Minho’s face, thumb stroking his cheek.

“My poor flower, you’ve started burning, haven’t you?” he coos. Minho nods then cranes his neck in a silent plea for kisses and he’s pleased when Kibum obliges. He wraps his arms around Kibum’s neck and tries to continue with the same fervor as the day and night before. His need and greed for Kibum’s lips has only increased with time, but with the burning, he struggles to keep up the pace. He feels Kibum laugh and pull away.

“Why don’t you just rest and let me do the work, love?”

He nods, letting Kibum pull him out of the hammock and onto his lap. He keeps his arms around Kibum’s neck as Kibum’s arms snake around his waist. They sit there for a minute, foreheads pressed together, making sure they’re comfortable before resuming. Kibum leans back, resting on one of the hammock trees. They fall into somewhat of a rhythm: Kibum gives him a few kisses then makes his way down Minho’s neck and shoulders before making his way back up to his lips. It’s leisurely enough that it leaves Minho wanting, but ardent enough that he’s left breathless everytime Kibum pulls away. To give him better access, Minho moves his arms down to Kibum’s waist; in return, Kibum cups his face and slows down, whispering sweet nothings between each kiss. There’s a rustling behind them. Minho goes to turn around to check for who it is, but Kibum’s got too strong of a hold on his attention.

“Minho? Kibum?”

He’s thankful that it’s Jonghyun’s voice -- and that it’s more intrigued than upset or disgusted. Kibum lets go of Minho so that he can look at Jonghyun. His head is cocked to the side and there’s a glimmer in his eye. Minho holds out his hand and is pleasantly surprised when he takes it, sitting behind him. Kibum resumes his efforts as Jonghyun wraps his arms around Minho’s waist and begins kissing his shoulders. Every once in a while, Kibum lets up and moves to his neck again; Minho twists around so that he can kiss Jonghyun properly, putting a hand behind Jonghyun’s head to make it easier on both of them. Minho’s more than content to stay just like this, sandwiched between Kibum and Jonghyun, for once on the purely receiving end of their affections.

After a while, the two of them switch Minho so he’s facing Jonghyun.  Minho worries that maybe he’s been too demanding with Kibum; when Kibum bites his shoulder and slides his hands down to his hips, however, he realizes that it was just for a change of pace. Minho goes to put his own hands on Jonghyun’s thighs, but in the end he slides them up to rest on his chest. Jonghyun picks up the pace, giving Minho’s mind less time to wander. Between Jonghyun’s fervent kisses and Kibum’s fingers kneading at his hips, heat begins pooling in the pit of his stomach. It’s only grows higher when he feels Jonghyun reach to wrap his hand around his length. It only takes a few strokes before he’s gasping for breath and just a few more before he’s finished, vision going blurry and ears filled with the sound of his own heartbeat.

When he comes back to himself, Kibum and Jonghyun have slowed significantly. Their touches are sweet and soft, allowing Minho to recover. As they start picking up the pace again, Minho’s switched around to face Kibum. While Jonghyun had been mostly silent, only offering moans and whimpers that matched Minho’s own, Kibum isn’t afraid to use his voice to help Minho along. He starts whispering sweet short nothings again at first; when he finally takes Minho into his hands his little whispers get bigger, and its not long before Minho’s coming undone again to the sound of Kibum’s refrains of “blossom for me.”

Minho buries his head in Kibum’s neck, chest heaving. He tentatively takes Kibum into one hand and reaches back to take Jonghyun into the other. After all, he prides himself on being fair in his kisses, so why shouldn’t he be fair now? Initially his strokes are slow, picking up speed as he gets the energy to, spurred on by Kibum’s low moans and Jonghyun’s quick whimpers. There’s a feeling of warmth and pride when first Jonghyun and then Kibum come in his hands. He smiles, earning a smack from Kibum.

They continue for the rest of the afternoon, Jonghyun and Kibum taking turns working Minho before he does his best to please them both. The whole thing culminates as the sun is setting, with both their hands wrapped around him to get him off together one last time. Minho’s beyond exhausted when it’s finished; but the burning, formerly excruciating, is appeased for the time being. He’s past the point of overstimulation; just the feeling of Jonghyun pressing gentle kisses to his spine is enough to make him whimper and his back arch. He lets himself fall onto Kibum as the last of the light starts fading from view.

It soon becomes apparent that he’s not going to be able to move, so Jonghyun and Kibum work together to get him into the hammock. It’s Jonghyun’s turn to sit and compliment Minho as Kibum goes and gets a bucket of water. They work to clean both Minho and themselves off quickly. Jonghyun lets Kibum climb into the hammock facing Minho, opting to sit beside it and hold Minho’s hand from where it hangs over the edge. They both continue murmuring little compliments to him. When Kibum starts playing with Minho’s hair, it’s all over and he’s asleep in moments. As the two sit and watch his chest rise and fall, the realization of what’s just happened washes over them.  

“Did we just...?” Kibum asks first.

“Yeah. I think so.”

“Have you guys...ever? I mean I know we all kiss all the time but...”

“No. Have you?”

“I mean it felt like we were leading up to that the other night but it never went that far.”

There’s surprise on Jonghyun’s face.

“You were here the night before last?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t planning on coming to visit that day and then all of a sudden it was all I could think about doing. So I came and he showed me all his new things. It was like he was trying to stall me so I’d have to spend the night. It worked and we basically made out until he fell asleep.”

Silence falls between them and they both look away. Kibum’s surprised at the change in the garden. Every flower was seemingly over-blooming. Once normal flowers were now blossoming so much, their stalks couldn’t hold them up. There were no more unopened buds. The fruit trees were so heavy with fruit, multiples sprouting together in odd masses, he thought their branches might break as well.

“Did he...did you....you felt it too, right?” Kibum asks after a while, not sure how to form the question.

“The pull? Yeah, I felt it too. I guess this was our call?”

“It makes sense within what the lady told me, but I just wasn’t sure if it was for you.”

“What did she tell you?”

“Well, the first night I was here, she said not to leave him alone. Then yesterday when she was giving us the hints, she said that today the call would be for affection and attention.”

“She said the same thing to be, basically, with the added bit of ‘even if it seems oddly far, just go with it’”

Kibum hums in response as Minho shifts around to lay on Kibum’s chest.

“It was nice.” Jonghyun finally says after a while.

“Yeah, yeah it was. We should try that again sometime when he’s not on the brink of probably re-dying or something.”

Jonghyun laughs as he stands. “I’m going to go tell the others they can come in for the night. He was so loud that I’m sure they know what was happening but just in case he someone soundproofed the garden...”

Kibum nods; he’s asleep before Jonghyun even makes it to the door.


	16. Minho's Bloom (Day 3)

Jinki is the first one to wake up. He crawls out of his well, sitting on the lip of it while he adjusts back into a human form. Starting from Taemin, who’s closest to him, he goes round and checks on everyone. Taemin is sleeping soundly, floating on a misshapen cloud; he’d probably pulled it around himself in his sleep, Kibum referred to them as dream clouds. Jonghyun’s in his nest in the tree closest to Taemin; it makes Jinki laugh that it’s very clearly a bird's nest but Jonghyun is sleeping as a little green snake in it. He moves on to the hammock and sees Kibum’s not actually in it, but rather floating next to it. Between Taemin and Key, Jinki figures old habits must die hard. Jinki shakes his shoulder and leads him so he’s sitting by Jonghyun’s nesting tree so he’s out of the way. He goes back to the hammock and finds Minho sweating and gasping for air. He puts a hand to his forehead; his fever, already high yesterday, is now blistering. The garden is still packed with overblooming and the flower's perfume is overwhelming.

Jinki knows that Jonghyun and Kibum need to rest and that Taemin isn’t ready to play his part yet, so he picks Minho up out of the hammock. He carries him out and down the beach, until he’s standing in a few inches of water. Minho is so fevered that he barely seems to notice the change in scenery. Jinki sits down in the water and arranges it so Minho is semi-sitting in his lap, head resting on Jinki’s shoulder. They’re at such an angle that the water will continuously run over him to cool him off, and Jinki puts up a barrier such that it won’t splash Minho in the face. The move seems to help, Minho’s breath becoming less labored. Jinki lets one of his arms turn into his water form and does his best to wet Minho’s hair. Minho slowly looks up at him; Jinki realizes he’s trying to reach for him and takes his hand. He lets himself stay just human enough to keep Minho supported and calm but turns water form enough that he’s cool to the touch. He finds himself pressing little kisses to Minho’s forehead and cheek; Minho’s eyes are closed and he keeps whispering Jinki’s name. Jinki wonders if he started this of his own volition or if Minho is using the last bit of whatever pull he had on Jonghyun and Kibum yesterday to pull at him now. Either way, he continues until Minho goes quiet. When he stops to look at Minho, he’s taken aback by his pitiful appearance. Minho’s spent body and soul was a far cry from his normal vibrance. His skin isn’t warm anymore and Jinki worries that he’s cooled him down too much. After returning to full human state, he picks Minho up and carries him back inside the garden to the hammock. The scent of the garden is still near-unbearable, but there’s a new sweetness to it. Once he gets Minho situated in the hammock, he goes to the well and gets a bucket of water. Grabbing a stool, he sits next to the hammock, taking Minho’s outstretched hand.

“I brought you first.” Minho whispers.

Jinki dips his hand in the water and pours a little bit on Minho’s head before stroking his hair. “You did what, sprout?”

“I brought you to me first.”

“How’d you do that, sprout?”

“Do you remember when we first met?”

“Yeah. You were the strongest looking, most strangely placed mangrove tree I’d ever seen and when I tried to pull myself onto the beach by your roots you started screaming.”

Minho hazily laughs. “I felt you coming by that day. I could feel your energy as you passed. I wanted you to come by. I’ve been lonely so long, Jinki.”

“I know you have, sprout. How did you know I was out there?”

“I can’t explain it. I just knew you were there in the water. I couldn’t even tell what you were, but I wanted someone to be there so badly. So I made you tired, so you’d come on shore. You fought me so hard, I didn’t know if you’d really come. When you swam to shore I was so excited, I forgot to change back until you pulled at me. It didn’t hurt me at all, but I was so surprised to feel someone that I screamed.”

Jinki tries to process the information and after he while he nods for Minho to continue.

“When Taemin followed you here, I felt him too. He had so much curiosity that it didn’t take much to pull him. Kibum was so lonely that I didn’t even have to pull and he was tumbling in.”

“What about Jonghyun? Since we brought him to you?”

“I just tried to make him calm. He was so scared. The first day was so hard and I was worried he’d leave, but after that it got easier pretty quickly.”

Jinki nods, still not fully understanding. He had thought that Minho could only control plants, but maybe he was wrong. Minho goes quiet, pulling Jinki’s hand closer to him, kissing his knuckles. After a while, he speaks up again.

“Plants are easiest for me. They have a particular structure, they don’t move around much. But I’m not as limited to them as you guys think. They lady told me that at first, she thought to make me an earth spirit. I’d been swallowed by the earth and so by that thought it should be earth under my command. But it was really the trees under the earth and the people who didn’t warn us that really took me.”

“So it’s plants and people for you?”

“Yeah. Why do you think you guys like visiting me so much? Because I want you too. That’s why regular people, ships and things, never wash up here. I keep them away. With you guys, it’s just an influence. But if it were regular, living people, it’d be almost like it is with plants. That’s why she brought me here, so far from everyone.”

The picture is becoming clearer to Jinki now, questions he’d been sitting on getting answered.

“Do you pull at us everytime? To come back?”

“No, but I don’t pull evenly either.”

“What do you mean?”

There’s sadness in Minho’s face and Jinki wishes he hadn’t asked.

“When I pulled you guys, I learned what your energy feels like. I can tell who’s coming before you ever get here and how you’re feeling. So for example with Kibum, I didn’t have to pull at all, just latch on; I don’t even have to think about it now. It’s like an elastic bond. He only goes so far for so long before he’s coming back. Jonghyun's always here and even when he goes away he doesn't have anywhere else to go, so it's more of like keeping a beacon out for him to find his way back.”

“What about Taemin and I?”

Minho looks away and doesn’t say anything. He’s starting to look pink again so Jinki resumes pouring water over his forehead. After a few minutes, he tries again.

“Do you feel like you still have to pull at Taemin and I, sprout?”

“It’s not that I feel that I have to, it’s just that I worry what will happen if I don’t.”

“Sprout, I’d still come see you.”

Jinki brings a hand up to Minho’s cheek. Minho looks away and stays quiet. Jinki sits with him until he’s asleep again before going to check on the others. He finds them all outside on the beach eating tangerines. As he sits down to join them, he wonders why Minho thinks he wouldn’t come back.


	17. Minho's Bloom (Day 4)

When Taemin wakes up, it’s to screaming. In his surprise, he falls off his cloud. He looks around trying to find who it’s from: Jonghyun is peaking out of his nest; Jinki, out of the well; Kibum looks like he just fell as well. As the screaming starts again, they all look towards the center of the garden. Minho is on top of the table stone on his hands and knees. They watch as he presses his forehead to the stone and continues screaming in some unseeable agony. It’s the fourth day and Taemin knows that it’s his turn to step up for Minho. The lady had revealed to him on the first day that his job would be the hardest and that he would have to follow his instinct without the slightest hesitation. As he watches Minho writhe in pain, he hopes that instinct happens soon. He gets up and walks over to where Minho is, crouching down in front of him. He reaches out and gingerly touches Minho’s shoulder, almost falling over when Minho straightens up. Minho grabs both of Taemin’s wrists and Taemin quickly realizes how afraid Minho is. He wonders why it couldn’t have been one of the others to have to be here in this moment; out of all of them, he’s the least close to Minho and he has no idea how to try to comfort him. His thoughts are interrupted when Minho goes stone still and the ground begins to rumble. He looks past Minho and notices the trees splitting in the middle, fully grown shoots coming up to replace them. He looks around and realizes that all of the plants are doing it, even the vines are literally bursting with new growth. As soon as the old plant falls away and the new replacement seemingly instantaneously matures, a new shoot begins sprouting. The air is filled with even more potent blossoms and the smell of decaying matter and soon they're all choking on it.

When Taemin looks back to Minho, he thinks he sees him mouthing ‘please’; the thought strikes him and he immediately looks to Kibum and signals for him to get the others out. Taemin waits for Kibum’s signal; as soon as the wind hits, him he pulls every storm cloud he can around the island until the sky is filled with black clouds. The moment it all comes together, he opens his hands and begins to unleash every lightning bolt he can muster. He does his best to hit each tree and every plot until the whole island is seemingly burning. The sprouting rate seems to lessen, but he continues to burn every shoot that makes its way to the surface. Soon, the level of the trees and the blaze is low enough that he can see the others from where they stand on the beach. Jinki has them an arm around Jonghyun and Kibum and the three of them are shielded from the fire in one of Jinki’s water bubbles. Their horrified faces make him doubt his decision, but it’s too late to stop. As he continues, he notices Minho’s skin begin to change; he’s worried that he’s burning him alive but assumes the change from tan flesh to thick bark is seemingly comforting, as if Minho’s finding a way to protect himself.

Soon, the flames start dying down and the ground goes still. Taemin slowly lets the clouds dissipate and Jinki does the same to his bubble. Taemin can hear Kibum and Jonghyun screaming at him; asking what was he thinking, how could he, why why why.  The island was covered in as much ash as it was sand. Every piece of life, beyond the five of them, was completely destroyed. To say Taemin felt guilty about what happened was an understatement; but when he was pulled into Minho’s arms, with tears and many whispered ‘thank you’s, he knew he had done what he was supposed to.


	18. Minho's Bloom (Day 5)

Jonghyun is uneasy when he wakes. The island, still only ash and sand, feels very vulnerable. He had burrowed into the sand to sleep but it gave him little comfort. He crawls up to the surface to look for the others. No one had fallen asleep easily after the fire. He can see Jinki out in the surf, recharging himself. It had been hard on him, being on land so much for so long. Taemin and Kibum are sharing a cloud to sleep on. It's a little surprising, considering the way Kibum had berated Taemin for destroying the garden. Jonghyun himself had initially been equally furious over it, but as he watched Minho’s reaction he realized that it was what needed to be done. Minho's still sitting on the table stone, the only thing that had survived the fire. He's still mostly covered in bark below the neck; it's starting to crack and pull away, showing fresh pink skin underneath. Jonghyun makes his way over to the table, switching from his current badger form to human form. He gives Minho a good morning kiss and sits facing him. Minho reaches out a hand and Jonghyun takes it, absentmindedly picking at the cracking bark.

“Did I scare you yesterday?” Minho asks, almost whispering.

“I was scared for you, yes.”

“I’m sorry.”

Jonghyun looks up, taken aback by the comment.

“Why are you sorry? It’s not like you did it on purpose, right?”

“I just don’t want you to be unhappy because of me.”

Jonghyun tries to think of a reply but is interrupted. There’s a thud and the two look to see Kibum on the ground. He sits up and holds a hand to his head.

“I think he kicked me,” he groans.

“I mean after yesterday I wouldn’t be surprised.” Jonghyun mutters.

Kibum sticks his tongue out at Jonghyun before getting up and sitting behind Minho. Jonghyun’s almost done debarking Minho’s hand and he starts on the other as Kibum starts peeling bark off his back. They sit in relative silence, the only sound coming from the snapping bark.

“So what are you going to do now?” Kibum asks.

“What do you mean?” Minho replies.

“Well, you’re entire home’s just been destroyed and now it’s literally just going to be you, Jonghyun, and this rock on this island. What are you going to do?”

“I can still grow plants, Kibum. It’s not like Taemin hit me with lightning and magically brought me back to life.”

“What’s all the bark for then?”

Minho laughs. “It was to protect me from the fire.”

Kibum makes a dissatisfied noise. Jonghyun’s amused at the whole thing: if Minho had been able to bring the garden up like he was yesterday, he’d be able to grow them a new garden.

“Don’t you trust me, Kibum?” Minho asks.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just don’t see how you can replace 50 years of work in a timely manner. After all, Jonghyun’s still going to have to eat even if you can just sit and photosynthesize.”

Jonghyun moves to Minho’s legs when he finishes with his hands, Minho himself pulling bark off his own chest. When enough bark has come off, Minho stands. Taemin’s finally woken up and come off his cloud. Minho walks over to him, kisses his cheek, and comes back to the stone as Taemin shyly walks off in the direction of Jinki. Minho holds out a hand to Jonghyun; when he takes it, Minho pulls him to his feet and into his arms. Minho leads him in a waltz of sorts. Jonghyun tries his best to remember the music he heard at the circus and starts singing a half remembered tune. Kibum watches wearily from the rock. As they circle around and around, green shoots start to pop up everywhere Minho’s stepped. Eventually, there’s a large blanket of grass all around the stone. As they go further out, treetops start popping out. It’s not long before the old perimeter of the garden is reestablished. Once there’s enough greenery, Minho brings Jonghyun back to the stone. He lets go of Jonghyun’s hand and reaches out for Kibum.

“What do you want me for? You seem to be doing just fine on your own with Jonghyun.”

“But how am I supposed to have flowers in my garden if you won’t dance with me?” Minho asks.

Kibum sighs and blushes, taking Minho’s hand. 

"Besides. I didn't build this garden over fifty years."

Jonghyun continues to sing as Minho and Kibum waltz around, small flowers popping up in their wake. As time goes on, the garden starts to look more vibrant than Jonghyun can remember. All the bark has finally fallen off of Minho and the new pink skin is returning back to it’s normal tan color. Minho looks better and brighter than ever. Though Jonghyun still isn’t quite sure what’s going on, he realizes that maybe this was exactly what Minho needed.


End file.
